Kalamazoo's Economic Revitalization

Gretchen Johnson, Southwest Michigan First

In the late 1990s, Kalamazoo County’s economic outlook was in dire straits. A series of industrial plant closings, corporate mergers, and the loss of thousands of highpaying jobs sent tremors through the foundation of the Kalamazoo economy. Inc.Magazine later reported that Kalamazoo led the nation in job loss for communities of its size during the 2001 recession. Today, however, Kalamazoo’s economic development successes have made it a model for communities around the world.

Located midway between Detroit and Chicago on Interstate 94, Kalamazoo offers the amenities of and access to much larger metropolitan areas, without the congestion, crime and high cost of living. Just 45 minutes from the Lake Michigan shoreline, this community of 242,000 is known for its Midwestern work ethic and its entrepreneurial spirit. Kalamazoo is in many ways emblematic of America’s story; its industrial and economic history mirrors that of thousands of mid-sized communities across the nation.

It was in Kalamazoo in the late 1880s that Dr.W.E. Upjohn invented the first friable pill, creating a new form of digestible medicine that redefined the pharmaceutical industry. By World War I, Kalamazoo was the world’s center for paper production. In the early 1930s, Dr. Homer Stryker developed the wedge turning frame for patients with spinal injuries, and later the Stryker saw. This launched the Stryker Corporation, one of the world’s leading medical device and orthopedic implant companies.

During the same period, Checker Motors was formed. For decades, the company designed and manufactured the famous Checker Cab at its headquarters on Kalamazoo’s north side. In the 1940s, Gibson Guitar – made famous by the likes of Les Paul and B.B. King – was manufactured in Kalamazoo.

So in the 1950s, Kalamazoo’s economy, like much of America, boomed. Prosperity continued into the 1960s, when General Motors located its Fisher Body stamping plant in Comstock Township in east Kalamazoo County. At its peak, the two-million-square-foot facility employed nearly 4,000 skilled laborers.

From job loss to action plan

In the 1980s, Kalamazoo began to lose its economic foothold. In 1982, Checker Motors halted production of its famous taxi, opting to limit its operations to niche stamping and auto parts supply. Gibson Guitar moved its headquarters to Nashville in 1984.

In 1992, General Motors announced the closing of the Comstock stamping facility, which affected the entire region. In 1995, the Upjohn Company announced a merger with Pharmacia Corporation of Sweden, and the company’s headquarters moved to New Jersey in 1999. In 1998, Kalamazoo’s financial community suffered when First of America was acquired by National City and the headquarters – with hundreds of high-paying executive positions – were eliminated or moved to Ohio.

In a move that would become a hallmark of Kalamazoo’s economic turnaround, public and private community leaders from an array of sectors – business, academia, government and the community – stepped forward to address the problem proactively. The southwest Michigan region convened a task force dubbed Regional EDGE. Using a comprehensive cluster-based profile, the initiative examined the region’s economic challenges, assessed its strengths and developed a strategic plan to move the economy forward.

The Regional EDGE initiative resulted in two significant findings that would change Kalamazoo’s future. First, the Greater Kalamazoo community needed a proactive agency to aggressively pursue a strategic economic development effort. Second, the region’s 125-year legacy of life sciences innovation was an asset that could provide long-term growth if it were leveraged appropriately.

The biggest challenge to the area was getting both public and private leadership to look beyond traditional borders and begin thinking and acting as a regional community competing in a global economy. Bridging these barriers proved essential to Kalamazoo’s economic future.

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