Gratiot Area Chamber of Commerce

	Member Directory
	About the Chamber
	About our Community
	Board of Directors
	Business-School Alliance
	Chamber Committees
	Community Calendar
	Membership Application
	Member Benefits
	Member Fees
	Newsletter
	Electronic Newsletter Sign up
Contact GACofC:
	Patricia F. Nelson, Executive Director 110 W. Superior Street P.O. Box 516 Alma, MI 48801 PH: +1 (989) 463-5525 FX: +1 (989) 463-6588 Email: chamber@gratiot.org

Message from the Chair

By Phil Moore, Alma City Manager

With Alma about to celebrate its 150^th birthday, I have been reflecting on how the Gratiot Community has shown its ability to evolve and adapt to changes in technology and the economy. When Gratiot County was founded, lumbering and farming were the big industries. In time, grain mills and sugar beets replaced the lumbering. By the 1920’s Republic Truck became the big employer. Later it was the oil business, and we even had a coal gasification facility in Alma many years ago. For a while the trailer home industry viewed Gratiot County as the center of the action. The chemical industry was thriving for a while. Currently we make auto parts, boats and recycle printer cartridges.

When the refinery closed, many community members were concerned about what was next for Gratiot County. When we examined the employment trends, the medical industry has made great strides in Gratiot County. The medical field is an area of great hope and promise for the future, and is currently the fastest growing sector in the county. With the ground breaking for the new hospital facilities, the medical community is poised to be a leader in Michigan for state of the art health care. This should power our economy into the future.

The proposed energy research park is the next step in our industrial heritage. In a sense, it takes us back to our roots. It potentially marries agricultural, energy and manufacturing. It also has the potential to create good, high wage, long-term jobs. The research potential is what will drive the park and the local economy for years. New products and technologies developed by research could be manufactured in Gratiot County. I am very excited about the potential. It has also been encouraging to watch everyone working together towards the same goal. Many community people have been working very hard to help the energy research park choose Gratiot County. There have been officials from many if not most of the cities, villages, townships and county working together to improve our economy. There have been many private citizens working without compensation to assist in this project. One of the many strengths of our area is for the people and the municipalities to work together for the best of all concerned. That is what makes Gratiot County a great place to live.