President & CEO's Message | |
News travels fast, in this day and age, and good news travels even faster, it seems. Bay Future, Inc. is taking advantage of opportunities, recently shared with us, that have allowed our organization to share the stories of economic investment and growth in our community with national and international audiences!
We know sharing our story, from an economic development perspective, is critically important to community building for several reasons. Chief among them is that it plays a vital role in attracting and retaining investment. Specifically, investment from businesses, entrepreneurs, and government agencies representing grants, as an example, to our community. These investments lead to job creation, infrastructure development, and overall economic growth, which benefits the entire community. Not to mention communities with compelling economic development narratives are more likely to attract and retain talent. Skilled workers and talented professionals are often drawn to areas that offer economic opportunities, a high quality of life, and a sense of purpose. Sharing our story while highlighting the unique assets and attributes that make doing business in Bay County appealing works in concert to attract talented individuals and cutting-edge businesses but also to retain those individuals and businesses in our community, as well.
In this month's newsletter, we will share with you a few recent examples of how we are telling our story to attract businesses and talent, nationally and internationally, to our community. I encourage you to take a few moments and check out our feature in Business in Focus and Trade & Industry Development magazines. We will also share with you an opportunity we had to tell a great economic development story (10 years in the making!) to an international audience that visited our community, last month.
As we share these stories, will you help spread the word to your regional, national, and international contacts by sharing them, as well? If so, I believe we will continue to experience growth of business and industry and talent within our community because those that we have shared our story with, will want to be a part of that story too!
Looking forward to sharing more exciting future investment news with you soon!
Happy reading,
-Trevor Keyes, EDFP
President & CEO
Bay Future, Inc.
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Bay County Featured in Business in Focus | |
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"Our Community is really embracing what the future could be." - Trevor Keyes
In 2019, leaders in the mid-Michigan community of Bay City decided to put forward an aggressive economic development plan that set measurable goals for success and would set the path for future prosperity and growth in this re-emerging Midwestern town. They had been thoughtful in their methodology of getting community feedback to craft the goals and had agreed on the tactics they would implement to meet and exceed the goals. Following on from recent successes, they had taken a tried-and-true path of identifying the strengths and opportunities of the community and were finally ready to put their plan in to action and drive forward.
Read Full Article Below!
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This is the fourth time Bay County has been featured in Business in Focus. Check out the previous articles below: | |
Port Fisher Terminals Featured in Trade & Industry Development | |
HL Mechatronics Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary in Bay County | |
Pictured (L to R): Mr. Seonghyeon Cho, Vice Chairman, HL Group Automotive Sector, Mr. Kevin Ross, President, HL Mechatronics, and Mr. Mong-Won Chung, Chairman, HL Mando Co. Ltd. | |
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Last month we had the opportunity to celebrate and speak with leaders of HL Mechatronics and HL Group from South Korea at their facility in Bay County as they traveled to participate and recognize a decade of success and partnership.
10 years ago, HL Mechatronics, a part of HL Group (who changed its name from Halla Group in 2022 to HL "Higher Life" Group in celebration of 60th anniversary) was looking for a location to expand its research, engineer, sales and marketing operations, and our community was looking to secure advanced manufacturers and Research and Development, that would advance our future prospects in the mobility and automotive industry. "It was a perfect match," Trevor Keyes, President & CEO of Bay Future, Inc., said in his address to company leadership.
In an article from the local news announcing the purchase and investment of the Monitor Road property at that time, Kevin Ross, President of HL Mechatronics was asked to look into the future and comment on what it looked like. "Our goal is to create a tech hub in this area to address future market needs. To meet this goal, we will be expanding with the best and brightest," Ross said.
And that is exactly what has happened.
Bay Future, Inc. was honored to have the opportunity to meet with and address HL's national and international leadership, and has been thankful and fortunate to work along side local company leadership here in Bay County for a decade.
Partners and recognition at the event also included Brenda Flory, Senior Business Development Manager for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) presenting a letter of commendation on behalf of Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
We look forward to future partnerships with HL, future investment, and future forward progress in the decades to come here in Bay County and the State of Michigan!
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McLaren Health Care & Saginaw Valley State University | |
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McLaren Health Care, the three-state, fully integrated health care system, has announced a partnership with Saginaw Valley State University that will provide all qualified full- and part-time employees wishing to further their education with a 30 percent discount on tuition and all associated fees for in-person and online courses through the university, located less than 10 miles from McLaren Bay Region hospital in Bay City.
All McLaren Health Care employees throughout the state — regardless of job classification — are eligible for all undergraduate, graduate, and certification courses offered through the award-winning university, effective with the beginning of the 2023 fall semester.
Read Press Release
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Great partnership between two of Bay Future: Drive. Forward. Investors! | |
Going PRO Talent Fund Applications Opening on October 9th | |
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Are there certain skills your employees are missing? You can help to train them - and Going PRO Talent Fund can help!
GPTF is a competitive grant that helps employers by assisting them in training and retaining current employees and developing the skills of new hires. Training is customized to meet the employers needs and the employee skills levels.
Applications for cycle one of the Fiscal Year 2024 Going PRO Talent Fund independent awards will open on Monday, October 9, 2023. Applications will be accepted until 5 p.m. Friday, October 27, 2023.
To learn more contact Paul Doyle doyle@michiganworks.com (989)577-0306
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MI Works Agencies Partner to Bring Experiential Opportunity to Students
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Think about it. Through 2024, there are 811,055 high-demand career openings. What are we, as a region, doing to encourage our youth to choose those careers? A group of volunteers, employers, and workforce development organizations, in partnership with education, came together last week to host MiCareerQuest Middle Michigan 2023 on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University!
This is not your typical career fair. In fact, it’s not a career fair at all. During this experience, 10th grade students from high schools around the region engaged with professionals and participated in activities that showcase various high–growth occupations in an exercise that surely opened their eyes to opportunities for great careers in our region.
If you did not have an opportunity to attend but are interested to see what you missed, check out the MiCareerQuest Middle Michigan 2023 Livestream on Facebook by clicking the link.
Our own President & CEO, Trevor Keyes, was honored to participate in hosting live segments from the floor of the event, interviewing exhibitors and students, alike. If you are interested in seeing those segments, click on the link above and fast forward to 3:16:40.
It was an extremely impactful and energetic event that was run professionally and saw thousands of students get an opportunity to experience the careers of tomorrow, today!
Congratulations to all who worked tirelessly to produce this influential even especially the event coordinators, Great Lakes Bay MI Works! and Michigan Works Region 7B!
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Coming Home MI Hiring Mixer | |
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Looking for an awesome career in the Great Lakes Bay Region – Arenac, Bay, Midland or Saginaw Counties? Discover your opportunity to connect with world class employers from the region and learn more about what makes this region a wonderful place to call home.
Ready to discover your career? Our Coming Home East MI event will feature up to 30 regional employers from high-demand industries with operations in Arenac, Bay, Midland and Saginaw Counties.
This year’s event particularly focuses on amazing opportunities in engineering, healthcare, and business operations!
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Thursday, October 26 from 3-5 pm
Pierce Road Bar and Grill
2903 Pierce Rd. Saginaw, MI 48604
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40,000+ SF Industrial Building | |
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Industrial Building for sale on 3.87 acres! Monitor Township Industrial Building 1 mile west of Mackinaw and US-10 on Fraser Road. This 40,704 SF building features two loading docks/recessed truck wells, 3 overhead drive-in doors,16'-20' ceiling heights, 5,000 amp, 3-phase power and is fully sprinklered.
The 2-story office is approximately 1,500-1,600 SF and features a conference room and several closed-door offices.
Learn more: Great Lakes Bay Sites!
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Bay Future, Inc. Platinum Level Investors! | | | | |
