Business View Magazine | May 2020

91 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2020 has its own income tax in addition to the state income tax. The Kellogg corporate headquarters is located in downtown Battle Creek and the Kellogg Foundation building (one of the wealthiest global Foundations) is also located downtown. Andy Helmboldt, Chair of Sustainable Battle Creek, reports, “Cereal is still made here by the Kellogg company and Post. Kellogg also has a research & development facility here that is part of the white collar jobs. So cereal is still a significant part of the local employment scene.” From a residential standpoint, the suburban or non-downtown living condition is still in high demand in Battle Creek, but currently there is a 83-unit apartment complex under construction downtown that already has moving people in. That large project is designed to attract the millennial group and baby boomers who are wanting to move out of the suburbs and into a more walkable downtown lifestyle. According to Helmboldt, “That project involves an art deco style sky scraper that has been vacant for a couple decades and is being redeveloped by some local Michigan developers with a great amount of support from the state and local interests and foundations. So that’s been an exciting development here.” Within the green program element, the City of Battle Creek adopted a new Environmental Sustainability Plan in Feb. 2019 that touches on energy, water, transportation, and other common issues. What makes this plan unique is that it is primarily affecting city elements – building improvements for energy and efficiency, the way buildings are used by the staff, in addition to land use, which has more of an external approach looking at zoning and efficiencies in land usage. The city is also updating its 2006 non-motorized transportation plan. Feldt explains, “We envision putting in additional bike paths; connecting subdivisions that are only connected by roads, looking at short connectors via footpaths, enhancing existing boat launches for kayak and BATTLE CREEK , MI CHIGAN