BENTON HARBOR —  Population growth or loss can have huge impacts on local communities, and understanding all the factors involved will be the topic of a special presentation coming to Lake Michigan College next month.

Michigan State Demographer Eric Guthrie, PhD, will speak on “Population Trends: What’s at Stake for Southwest Michigan” on Thursday, Dec. 5 at the college. The meeting begins at 7:30 a.m., and breakfast will be served. Interested parties are asked to RVSP by Nov. 25 to Lake Michigan College by email at info@lakemichigancollege.edu or by phone at (269) 927-8600. Seating is limited to the first 200 people.

The free seminar is hosted by Kinexus Group, Lake Michigan College, and Cornerstone Alliance.  “Over the last several years we have been discussing the impact of population, aging of the workforce, and educational attainment,” said Kinexus Group President and CEO Todd Gustafson.  “This is an opportunity to look at the all of the relevant data and dig deeper into what it means and its impact on our future.”

“Growing our population is tremendously important for economic development.  For business, it means customers and workers, and for schools, it means more students and revenue,” added Cornerstone Alliance President and CEO Rob Cleveland. “This was a great opportunity to work with our partners in higher education and workforce development to continue the conversation on this topic.”

Guthrie became the state demographer in 2014. He is Michigan’s liaison with U.S. Census Bureau for most programs including population estimates, projection, data dissemination, and is an advisor to state leaders on issues related to population.

“Dr. Guthrie is one of the experts in his field, and this will be an important meeting for community leaders, businesspeople, educators, and anyone interested in the future of Southwest Michigan,” said Lake Michigan College President Trevor Kubatzke.  “This presentation will include information for Berrien, Van Buren and Cass counties.”

For more information, contact Mary Morphey, Manager of Corporate Communications at (269) 927-1064, ext. 1143, or morpheym@kinexus.org.