BY alex piazza
Traverse City -- Grand Traverse County's population is more than 96 percent white.
Lisa Blackford believes that statistic could have a detrimental impact for local businesses trying to attract a talented workforce.
"We're not very diverse," said Blackford, Northwestern Michigan College director of student life. "That's probably why we aren't attracting as much talent to Traverse City."
Diversity-related issues, including racial and ethnic stereotypes, will be the topic at "Diversifying Talent -- and What That Means for Traverse City." The discussion will take place Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Oleson Center on NMC's campus.
"We have to look at how we're going to tackle this," said Blackford, who helped organize the event.
The Michigan Department of Civil Rights organized similar "Root Beer Summits" around the state to address diversity-related issues. The events are modeled after the beer summit organized by President Barack Obama in July to address the controversial arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Only 1 percent of Grand Traverse County's population is black, far below the national average of 14 percent, according to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau statistics.
But that doesn't mean Grand Traverse County lacks diversity, said Harold Core, Department of Civil Rights spokesman.
"Racial and ethnic diversity is more of an indicator of a community's acceptance of diversity," he said. "You can have a room full of 20 white men, but unless they grew up in the same household, there's still going to be diversity among them."
The Department of Civil Rights initially planned an event in Lansing or Detroit, but later recognized that diversity is a "community issue."
"We wanted each of the communities to be able to drive the conversation that's most beneficial for that particular environment," Core said.
That conversation in Traverse City revolves around how local businesses can attract more people of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.
"If you really want to drive economic development, you have to have the best and brightest talent feel comfortable in their community," Core said. "Helping communities to have those discussions, it's easier to attract talent."
