A Quick Tour of Midland...
Midland, Michigan is an 82,000-person county that's much more than its size would suggest. Not only do we have global chemical manufacturers and dozens of niche technology manufacturers here, we have world-class art and cultural opportunities, sports and recreation to rival major cities, and excellent education for children and adults alike. Read on to learn more about what Midland can offer you and your employees.
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A Flourishing Manufacturing Base
Midland has been the global headquarters of The Dow Chemical Company since its founding in 1897. This $45 billion company, one of the largest chemical companies in the world, employs almost 52,000 people worldwide.
- The Dow Chemical Company’s Michigan Operations plant produces sarans, sealers and adhesives.
- Dow creates a wide variety of products and solutions for the agricultural industry as well.
- Since 2007, Michigan Operations has invested over $200 million locally into site improvements and new business development.
- The manufacturing plant for Dow Solar Solutions will also be located on Michigan Operations property just to the west of the main manufacturing complex. This manufacturing facility for DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingles, which Time magazine named one of their 50 Best Inventions of 2009, will invest over $100 million and is expected to create 1200 jobs.
Dow Corning Corporation’s Midland Plant, the 450-acre site that is the birthplace of Dow Corning Corporation, produces silicones and silanes for a wide variety of industries.
- They have a fenceline operation with Cabot Corporation to provide trichlorosilane over the fence for Cabot’s fumed silica production. Cabot’s arrangement in Midland has been so successful that they are now using the fenceline relationship with their supplier as their model for all future plants.
- Since 2007, the Midland Plant has invested $180 million into new equipment and improvements to support trichlorosilane production.
Dow Kokam Advanced Battery Group will be located inside Michigan Operations’ fenceline. This partnership between The Dow Chemical Company and Kokam America will have the capacity to manufacture 1.2 billion watt hours of large-format affordable lithium-ion batteries – enough to power 60,000 fully electric or hybrid electric vehicles annually.
- When complete, this 800,000 square-foot, large-format battery manufacturing facility will employ nearly 800 people.
- The first construction phase has a targeted capacity of 600 million watt hours and will employ up to 320 people at steady state.
Dow Chemical is working with Tata Consultancy Services, headquartered in Mumbai, to establish the Dow Business Process Service Center adjacent to Dow’s corporate headquarters.
- The Center will provide core business services including financial consulting, order processing, information technology and other services.
- The project will create 500 jobs during its initial phase, with 750 additional jobs expected to be created in subsequent phases.
This world-class expertise in manufacturing chemicals, plastics, silicones, silanes and advanced materials, combined with a "can-do" entrepreneurial spirit, has been the catalyst for dozens of startup and second-stage manufacturers with innovative technologies and products. Fifteen of them have been recognized at the state level for their innovation, leadership and potential for growth - and that's just a sampling of the business environment in Midland!
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Advanced Education
Midland Public Schools comprises 13 elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools serving over 8,300 students.
- In 2007, Midland Public Schools made the International Baccalaureate curriculum available to its high school students. This rigorous pre-university international program is authorized in 110 countries and provides student review and assessment by an international board of examiners, preparing students to be top-rank leaders in a global economy.
- Expansion Management magazine ranked Midland Public Schools in the top 17 percent of school districts nationwide in 2007.
Midland has a vibrant higher-education environment, with almost 45,000 students studying at colleges and universities within a 30-mile radius.
Northwood University is a private university with locations in Texas and Florida and satellite locations around the globe in addition to its Midland campus. Approximately 2000 students attend in Midland.
- The university is dedicated to promoting the values of a global free-enterprise society and offers both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business.
Davenport University offers degrees ranging from bachelor’s and master’s degrees to associate’s degrees and one-year certificates.
Michigan Molecular Institute is a world-class polymer research facility that offers visiting partnerships through programs at Central Michigan University, Michigan Technological University and Michigan State University in polymer science.
Delta College, located 15 minutes from Midland, is a state-supported community college. Delta offers associate’s degrees in various studies, apprentice training programs, one-year certificates, programs for students planning to attend four-year universities, and many community education classes.
Saginaw Valley State University, located 20 minutes southeast of Midland, is a four-year state university offering bachelor’s & master’s degrees in many areas of study.
Central Michigan University is a state university located in Mt. Pleasant, 30 minutes west of Midland. CMU offers bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in many subjects. Their Midland satellite campus allows local residents to enjoy local MBA and other degree programs.
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Skilled Workforce
Midland County and the six counties surrounding it (Bay, Saginaw, Gratiot, Isabella, Clare and Gladwin) have a combined labor force of 263,000 people.
Close to 33% of Midland’s skilled workforce has at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 25% of Michigan residents and 27% of U.S. residents.
13.4% of our workforce has graduate or professional degrees – almost a third more than the U.S. average of 10.1%.
Delta College works directly with our major manufacturers to provide accelerated, customized industry training and degree programs that exactly meet their needs for new employees.
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World-Class Health Care
MidMichigan Medical Center–Midland is a 265-bed hospital located on a 146-acre wooded campus, with over 3,100 local employees.
- Midland’s active medical staff consists of 166 physicians representing 32 medical specialties providing a full range of primary care as well as outstanding specialty care. Ninety-nine percent of them are board certified.
- The Medical Center is the only hospital in Michigan to offer Gamma Knife Perfexion, considered the gold standard in brain surgery, and has an array of advanced imaging techniques that is unmatched in the region.
- The Medical Center is currently undergoing a $115 million expansion and renovation project that is set for completion in 2012. The project will transition the Medical Center to an essentially all private-room environment. The total area of all new and remodeled space is approximately 280,000 gross square feet.
- In addition to the expansion, a recent $200 million of investment in existing facilities added a new cardiology center to the MidMichigan campus.
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Shopping Districts
Midland’s Downtown is a growing shopping district in the heart of Midland with a mixture of boutiques, storefronts, restaurants, and other service sector businesses.
The Midland Mall is a regional shopping mall constructed in 1991 and located on Eastman Avenue just north of US-10.
- The mall features four anchor stores complemented by more than 60 specialty and name-brand shops.
- Many retail stores, hotels, restaurants and entertainment facilities have located in the mall area, helping to bring a full range of shopping, dining and leisure opportunities to area residents and visitors.
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Arts and Culture
The artistic and cultural opportunities in Midland rival those of much larger cities.
The Midland Center for the Arts provides state-of-the-art stages for audiences of 400 to 1500 and has featured everything from local performances to world-class orchestras and dance companies.
Architect Alden B. Dow built his 20,000-square-foot Home and Studio in Midland. A disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright, Dow sought to design buildings as an integral part of the landscape surrounding them.
Midland is also known as the “County of Beautiful Churches.” Over 100 places of worship throughout the county represent most denominations and faiths.
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Serious Sports
In 2007, Midland became the home of the Great Lakes Loons, a class-A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Loons play at the state-of-the-art $35 million Dow Diamond stadium that draws attendance from all over the region.
- The Dow Diamond was named the Best New Ballpark of 2007 by Baseball Digest magazine.
The Midland Community Tennis Center is recognized as one of the top 25 tennis facilities in the country.
- It is home to the annual Dow Corning Women’s Tennis Tournament, an important U.S. Open qualifying tournament that draws top professionals from around the world.
- In September 2009, the U.S. Tennis Association named Midland the #1 Tennis Town in the nation during the 2009 U.S. Open in New York City.
The Midland Soccer Club contains 30 soccer fields across 54 acres.
- The club has programs for youth recreation, youth select and adults in the spring, summer and fall.
- The Soccer Club currently hosts two regional tournaments that draw over 10,000 players, families and friends.
Midland continually hosts state, national and international softball tournaments.
- In 2004, the USA Softball Women's National Team visited Midland.
- Midland was the only stop in Michigan for the U.S. team that won the gold during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.
- In 2008, Midland again hosted the women's Olympic team in a rousing game against the Midland Lady Explorers.
The Midland Civic Arena is a 107,000-square-foot facility featuring three indoor ice-skating rinks: two NHL-sized and one Olympic-sized.
The Midland Community Center provides everything from racquetball courts, to a curling center, to a 20,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor leisure pool.
The City of Midland maintains a BMX bike track at the Stratford Woods Park, two public golf courses with a total of 54 holes and two community swimming pools.
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Parks and Recreation
The City of Midland maintains 72 City parks on 2,700 acres of land. Small neighborhood parks are nestled within residential areas, while larger groups can enjoy the amenities of several big parks in the city.
The Chippewa Nature Center is a private center open to the public year-round. The original 198-acre parcel has expanded to include over 1,200 acres, 40 staff members and hundreds of volunteers. Over 50,000 people visit the Nature Center each year.
Dow Gardens is a 100-acre botanical garden designed for the home of The Dow Chemical Company founder, Herbert H. Dow, in 1899.
Bicyclists can take advantage of trails at City Forest; the 30-mile Pere Marquette Rail-Trail, which is used for walking, running or bicycling; and the four-mile Chippewa Nature Trail, which connects to the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail.
Dow and Dow Corning initiated the $35 million project to build a completely new, 90,000-square-foot facility for the Midland Country Club and a substantial redesign of the golf course.
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