Latest News: | Cheboygan County Community Foundation

CCF board members — Above: CCF Board Members James “Bud” Darnell, Richard “Dick” Sanford and Kevin Tucker are shown here with Joe Van Antwerp, Vice President of Durocher Marine. They were all actively engaged to ensure a successful transition of the former H&H building to Durocher Marine.

For several years, the former H&H Tube manufacturing plant sat vacant after the company had consolidated its assets. Members of the Cheboygan Communities Foundation (CCF) board approached the plant manager in Vanderbilt about the possibility of giving the building to the CCF, who would then, in turn, sell it to local company Kokosing/Durocher Marine. Thus, the CCF would act as a pass-through, owning it for mere hours, but with the result that H&H could take the charitable donation and the CCF would end up with needed funds to spur future economic development projects.

Although there were environmental concerns with the property, these were taken care of and in the end, a vacant building was returned to profitable use by a local company, while the former owner was able to get a tax break and the non-profit CCF will receive $20,000 over a four-year period to carry on its economic development goals.

This outside-the-box thinking helped local businesses that employ local people, while at the same time provide an economic benefit to all concerned.