Midland, Michigan

3 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5 chigan gacy M idland, Michigan calls itself the “home of modern explorers”– for good reason. The city of more than 42,000 located in the Tri-Cities area of central Michigan abounds with residents who are entrepreneurs, scientists, and risk-takers. And that’s paid off for them in spades. “This is a community where people search for solutions and then they try to help and encourage one another,” says Brad Kaye, Midland’s City Manager. “It’s an entrepreneurial community that is incredibly creative. We’ve got talented individuals from across the world and people who have spent their entire life in Midland. People who work together to find solutions.” Founded in the late 1820s as a trading post, Midland soon became the home to a thriving logging industry with the second largest sawmill in the Saginaw Valley. It was officially incorporated as a city in 1887. Ten years later, as the logging industry was beginning to wane, Herbert Henry Dow chose the city as the site of his new chemical company, Dow Chemical. The founding of Dow helped Midland survive the end of the logging era and left a legacy that marked the city as a place of modern exploration. “Dow is still a key component of our community,” says Tony Stamas, President and CEO of the Midland Business Alliance. “It’s still here and still AT A GLANCE MIDLAND, MICHIGAN WHAT: A city of 42,000 with a thriving chemical industry WHERE: Located in the Tri-Cities area of central Michigan WEBSITE: www.cityofmidlandmi.gov