Advanced Manufacturing

In Southwest Michigan, we pride ourselves as being a community famous for its many “firsts” and innovative manufacturing processes. Checkered cabs. Parchment paper. Upjohn’s pharmaceutical pill. Shakespeare Rod & Wheel. Gibson Guitars. Stryker’s Turning Bed Frame. All were once “Made in Kalamazoo.”

MANN+HUMMEL
Mann+Hummel in Portage, Michigan
Due to innovation and diversification, today’s products now include Eaton transmissions, cereal cartons by Graphic Packaging International, Parker hydraulic components, Pfizer medicines, Dana axles, food containers by Fabri-Kal and Stryker orthopedic implants. The Kalamazoo Region has a long history of innovation in manufacturing and engineering. A spirit of entrepreneurship and collaboration, a well-educated and skilled workforce and an extensive network of support services available to employers have long been and still are major attractions to manufacturers. Long live innovation! Long live manufacturing!
 

First Facts:

  • Affordable wage rates: $7.99 to $19.99 per hour
  • Non-union environment
  • Western Michigan University’s School of College of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  • Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Academy training available for welders, automotive technicians, wind turbine technicians and more
  • Diverse industrial supplier base
  • Readily available and easily accessible public warehousing and contract distribution services
  • Southwest Michigan Tooling Collaborative
  • Workforce training
  • Over 45,000 college students locally
  • More than 220,000 college students within a 75-mile radius
  • Regional workforce totaling 408,026 at all levels of skill, experience, education and pay range
  • Excellent quality of life
  • Low cost of living
  • Strategic midpoint location between Chicago and Detroit lies within:
    • 54% of the nation’s manufacturers
    • 48% of all national retail sales
    • 54% of the nation’s business payroll
    • 65% of Canada’s Gross National Product

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Locational Opportunities - Advanced Manufacturing (Source: Southwest Michigan First, 2007)