Bill Leisenring has created the company U.P. Authentic to provide a selection of curated products from U.P. artisans and businesses and will give 50% of the profits to U.P. charities. Invent@NMU student employees assisted in the launch. U.P. Authentic is collaborating with Sayklly's Candies from Marquette, Shabby Chic Rustic from Gladstone and other artisans across the Upper Peninsula. 

Beth Millner ('08 BFA) started a jewelry business in the corner of her tiny kitchen while attending NMU. She was committed to creating sustainable, handcrafted designs inspired by the U.P. landscape and Lake Superior. She opened a storefront studio and shop on Marquette's Washington Street in 2012 and now employs seven full-time and part-time staff, including NMU alumni. The growth, innovation, philanthropy and workplace culture at Beth Millner Jewelry led to its selection as the 2020 Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year in Michigan.

NMU alumnus and 5th-grade teacher Brandon Wislocki ('02 BS) is featured in a USA Today education piece presenting a “parent's guide to online school.” He works at Stonegate Elementary in Irvine, Calif., which is among a growing number of K-12 districts that plan to start the new academic year with online-only instruction.

A book co-edited by NMU public relations professor and alumna Jes Thompson has been named a Silver Winner in the national Nonfiction Book Awards. America's Largest Classroom: What We Learn From Our National Parks offers insight and practical advice for improving educational outreach at national parks, as well as suggestions for classroom educators on how to meaningfully incorporate National Park Service sites into their curricula.

After falling from a roof and injuring his back, NMU alumnus Greg Ormson ('99 MA) found that yoga delivered both pain relief and a new vocation. He became a certified instructor in the practice, just as he had with another avid interest: motorcycling. Ormson has found a unique way to blend both passions. He leads “Yoga and Leather: Yoga for Bikers,” the first—and, to his knowledge, only—specialized class of its kind in the nation to be held in a Harley-Davidson dealership.