Arenac-Iosco Counties · 2014. 12. 23. · Saginaw Valley State University. • Delta College, founded in 1961, annually enrolls about 10,000 students. The two-year college offers

Arenac-Iosco CountiesArenac-Iosco Counties

Category

LINDA BARNESDirectorArenac County Economic Development Corp.2665 W. Cherry CreekMio, MI 48647(989) 826-5489Fax: (989) [email protected]

AreaArenac County 367 square milesIosco County 549 square milesSource: U.S. Census Bureau

County SeatArenac County StandishIosco County Tawas City

Miles (km) From Arenac Co. Iosco Co.Chicago 344 (554) 380 (612)Cleveland 310 (499) 330 (531)Detroit 149 (240) 178 (287)Indianapolis 383 (617) 418 (673)Lansing 130 (209) 165 (266)

TransportationAir Oscoda-Wurtsmith

Iosco County AirportStandish Industrial AirportMBS International Airport

Ports Alabaster; Port GypsumRail Lake State RailwayHighways I-75; US-23;M-65; M-61

M-55; M-33; M-13Bus Indian Trails

Population (2001)Arenac County 17,310Iosco County 27,162Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Income (2000) Arenac Co. Iosco Co.Median Household income $31,529 $30,090Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Per capital income $19,961 $20,207Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

Retail Sales (1997) Arenac Co. Iosco Co.Total Retail Sales $127,801,000 $224,315,000Per capita retail sales $7,815 $8,772Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Employment (2002) Arenac Co. Iosco Co.Total labor force 7,150 10,875Employed 6,450 9,750Unemployed 700 1,125Percent unemployed 9.8 10.3Source: Michigan Office of Labor Market Information

The Arenac-Iosco Counties Economic Development Profile wascreated and produced by Harbor House Publishers, Inc., forthe Arenac County EDC and Iosco County ED Forum. TheArenac County EDC and Iosco County ED Forum and HarborHouse Publishers, Inc. cannot guarantee the accuracy of theinformation presented here, or be held accountable for anyomissions or errors. Please report any changes to the ArenacCounty EDC and Iosco County ED Forum for inclusion in sub-sequent editions.

ISBN 1-58241-095-X

© 2003 Harbor House Publishers, Inc., Boyne City, Michigan.All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced withoutwritten permission of the publisher. Printed with soy-basedink on paper from a sustained forest.

Harbor House Publishers, Inc.221 Water Street • Boyne City, MI 49712(800) 491-1760 • FAX: (231) 582-3392www.harborhouse.com • [email protected]

IOSCO COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICEIosco County Economic Development Forumc/o MSU - Extension420 West Lake StreetP.O. Box 599Tawas City, Michigan 48764(800) 792-7404Fax: (989) [email protected]

Arenac-Iosco CountiesECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROFILE

94

96

75

75

27

5565

23

23

65

61

1

Open for business

IF YOU’RE LOOKING TO LOCATE OR EXPAND YOURbusiness, you’ll find a warm welcome, and a bright future, in Arenacand Iosco counties.

Nestled along the north shore of Saginaw Bay and the westernshore of Lake Huron, Arenac and Iosco counties offer an excellentbusiness climate combined with an exceptional quality of life.

Abundant natural resources and access to transportation routesattracted the area’s Native American settlers, early European tradersand homesteaders, turn-of the-century entrepreneurs, and today’smanufacturers, shop owners and service providers.

Service-related businesses provide the majority — about 30percent — of the area’s jobs. The next largest industry sector is retailtrade, which employs about 20 percent of area workers. Local, stateand federal jobs comprise the third largest sector, followed bymanufacturing, finance/insurance/real estate, and transportation/public utilities. Construction rounds out the major employers, withcontractors busy building new residential and commercialdevelopments.

The area’s tourism industry is responsible for creating andsustaining many jobs: Visitors to the two counties annually injectmore than $80 million into the local economy.

ARENAC IOSCO

2

RENAISSANCE ZONES SPUR GROWTH.Helping spur economic growth areRenaissance Zones located in Arenacand Iosco counties. Designed to attractnew business by granting virtually tax-free status for up to 10 years to busi-nesses presently in a zone or movinginto a zone, the Arenac and Iosco zonescomplement the many industrial parksalready in the two-county area.

Arenac and Iosco Economic Developmentagencies, and local township and citygovernments, welcome inquiries aboutthe area’s business opportunities, and canprovide information about available sites,local demographics and tax incentives.

Iosco County is home to the 2,200-acre Wurtsmith Renaissance Zone.Formerly Wurtsmith Air Force Base, thezone is the only lower peninsula formermilitary base converted for civilian use.It includes an industrial park and pro-fessional park. Among the businesses,agencies and community groups whichhave located at Wurtsmith are a healthclinic, a Veterans Administration Clinic,public library, civic theater, AlpenaCommunity College, the Yankee AirForce Museum, and several privateindustrial businesses.

One of the most well-received projectshas been the conversion of the base'shousing into the Villages of Oscoda, asite condominium of townhouses, ranchduplexes, duplex townhouses and single-family homes. Most of the homes havebeen purchased as second homes byvacationers and retirees. The zone alsoretains the former base's 300 ft. x11,800 ft. landing field, now used bythe Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport Service,the area's fixed base operator.

Lake Huron shoreline communities inboth counties have banded together toprovide large capacity water and sewersystems.A NURTURING EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT. Area businesses andresidents know the continued success oftheir communities depends on providingtheir youth with an educational envi-ronment that nurtures creativity whileinstilling responsibility. To that end,they generously support the area's public school districts.

Three public school districts serve ArenacCounty residents: Arenac Eastern SchoolDistrict, AuGres-Sims School Districtand Standish-Sterling Community Schools.Public school districts in Iosco County

ARENAC IOSCO

Arenac and Iosco Economic Developmentagencies and community Chambers of Commerce welcome inquiries

about the area’s business opportunities, and can provide information

about available sites, local demographics and tax incentives.

Major Manufacturing EmployersIOSCO COUNTYFirm Location ProductITT Automotive Oscoda Extruded & injection-

Tawas City molded plastic & partsEast Tawas

Tawas Tool Co. East Tawas Machine cutting toolsStarboard Industries East Tawas CoextrusionsNational Gypsum Co. National City DrywallRPI Inc. Oscoda Auto parts, levers,

controlsTawas Industries Inc. Tawas City Air, fuel & oil filtersNorwood Products Co. Oscoda Billiard cuesTawas Plating Co. Tawas City Powder coating,

electroplatingSchaaf Lumber Co. East Tawas Roof & floor trussesProline Archery Systems Hale CrossbowsDarton Archery Hale Bows, plastic parts

ARENAC COUNTYFirm Location ProductGlobe Fire Sprinkler Corp. Standish Automatic fire

sprinklers & alarmsMaple Ridge Hardwoods Sterling Hardwood lumberBopp-Busch Manuf. Co. Au Gres Metal stamping, dies,

wire assemblies & partsCrew Products Co. Au Gres WeldingBessinger Pickle Co. Inc. Au Gres Dill picklesBay City Shovels Au Gres Machinery,

shredding equipmentHayes Lemmerz Au Gres Foundry equipmentVantage Plastics Standish Vacuum formed

plastics, auto. dunnageM & M Industries Inc. Standish Checking fixtures

& gaugesArenac County Standish Newspaper,Independent commercial printing

Other Major EmployersARENAC COUNTYFirm Location ProductStandish Area Schools Standish Secondary educationStandish Community Standish Health careHospitalFirst American Standish Health careHealthcare Inc.Ashcrafts Market Inc. Standish Grocery storesForward Corp. Standish Gasoline service stationCitizens Bank Standish Commercial banks

IOSCO COUNTYFirm Location ProductTawas St. Joseph Tawas City HealthcareHospitalOscoda Area School Oscoda Secondary educationDistrictTawas Area Schools East Tawas Secondary educationTawas Bay Associates East Tawas Hotels, motelsTendercare Inc. Tawas City Nursing homeIosco Co. Medical Nursing homeCare FacilityNorthern Supermarkets Tawas City Grocery storesKmart Corp. Oscoda Department storeNational Gypsum Co. National City Non-metallic minerals

Area businesses and residents know the continued success of their communities depends on providing their

youth with an educational environment that nurtures creativity

while instilling responsibility.

3

are Hale Area Schools, Oscoda AreaSchools, Tawas Area Schools andWhittemore-Prescott Area Schools.

In addition to providing strong K-12core curriculums, Arenac and Iosco schooldistricts offer Headstart, alternative highschools, community education, vocationaland technical training programs. Outsidethe classroom, students participate innumerous extracurricular activities,including academic clubs, music and artprograms and interscholastic athletics.Area businesses and industries offer highschool students insights into potentialcareers by sponsoring work-study, job-shadowing and mentoring programs.Residents can also choose to send theirchildren to one of the counties’ publiccharter academies or private schools.

Two intermediate school districts, theBay-Arenac ISD and the Iosco RegionalEducational Service Agency, provide thecounties’ K-12 schools with special edu-cation, teacher professional development,technical training and other specializedservices. Iosco RESA offers a recentlybuilt technical center and educationalcomplex and the Bay Arenac Area ISDprovides educational programs in astate-of-the-art technical center.

MANY HIGHER EDUCATION OPTIONS.Area high school graduates and adultlearners don’t have to travel far to pursuetheir education or obtain job training.Providing classes in, or within a shortcommute of, the two counties are DeltaCollege, Mid-Michigan CommunityCollege, Alpena Community College andSaginaw Valley State University.

• Delta College, founded in 1961,annually enrolls about 10,000 students.The two-year college offers certificatesand associate's degrees in a range ofliberal arts, business and technical pro-grams. Delta has articulation agreementswith a number of Michigan's four-yearinstitutions which guarantee the transferof the associate's degree and of specificcourses within the curriculum.

Delta's main campus is in UniversityCenter, in Bay County, with branches inMidland, Bay City and Saginaw. The col-lege also offers courses via the Internetand telecourses. Delta College CorporateServices, established in 1983, providesbusinesses with workforce educationand training in a range of fields, as wellas providing custom programs to meetthe needs of individual employers.

• Alpena Community College has operated

Education (2000)

High school graduates, persons age 25+

Arenac County 76.8%

Iosco County 77.9%

Bachelor’s degree or higher, persons age 25+

Arenac County 9.1%

Iosco County 11.3%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

4

Arenac and Iosco County residents, businessesand visitors have the peace of mind that comes with ready access to

quality, knowledgeable medical care.

a full service extension center in IoscoCounty since 1969. The college's HuronShores Campus, based at the WurtsmithRenaissance Zone in Oscoda, offersadvising, assessment and a variety ofdual enrollment classes in Oscoda,Tawas, Twining and Whittemore. Falland spring semesters are offered, aswell as a six-week summer session.Customized training for business andindustry is provided through the college'sCenter for Economic and HumanResource Development. Spring ArborCollege offers four-year degrees throughAlpena Community College with classesin Iosco County.

• Mid-Michigan Community Collegerecently became home to one of thestate's 18 Michigan Technical EducationCenters (M-TEC). Designed to meet thespecific training needs of area industryand construction trades in the mid-Michigan area, the center's 21,000-square-foot facility features construction and manufacturing labsequipped with the latest tools and computer equipment.

• Saginaw Valley State University,founded in 1963, is located in UniversityCenter, in Bay County. The universityattracts the region’s top students, offering

them a selection of more than 80 pro-grams leading to bachelor’s, master’sand specialist’s degrees. SVSU’s Centerfor Corporate and ProfessionalDevelopment provides businesses withcustomized training, and professionaldevelopment opportunities for execu-tives and support staff in topics rangingfrom information technology to materi-als management. The Center forManufacturing Improvement at SVSUhas a staff of veteran manufacturingprofessionals offering area businessesassistance in skills such as websitedevelopment, benchmarking and leanmanufacturing.

Delta College and Alpena College/Oscoda Campus provide services throughregional offices of the Michigan SmallBusiness Development Center. TheSBTDC provides counseling, training andmarket research capabilities to existingsmall businesses, new venture compa-nies, expanding businesses, new tech-nology companies and innovators.Financial support from the MichiganSmall Business Administration and local partners allows the services to beoffered at low or no cost.READY ACCESS TO MEDICAL CARE. Thearea is served by two hospital systems

which have service and air ambulancelinks to larger hospitals to the south:

• St. Mary’s Standish CommunityHospital, in Standish, is a 69-bed hospi-tal which has been providing acute careto area residents since 1961. The hospi-tal offers a full range of services,including specialty clinics and 24-houremergency care. SMSCH is affiliatedwith Ascension Health System. The hos-pital is undertaking a $5 million renova-tion that will provide new radiology, laband emergency facilities. The hospital isamong Arenac County's top five employ-ers.

• St. Joseph Health System, in TawasCity, is a 49-bed acute-care facility pro-viding emergency services and a rangeof inpatient and outpatient care. Thehospital also administers five satelliteclinics, including an after-hours walk-inclinic in Oscoda. Recent expansionsinclude a $10 million surgery wing andoutpatient and joint replacement facili-ties. It is part of the Ascension HealthSystem and the Seton Cancer Institute.

The Sterling Area Health Center provides health care services includingpediatrics, internal medicine, gynecology,psychiatry, dentistry, substance abusetreatment and health education.

ARENAC IOSCO

5

With 83 miles of Great Lakes shoreline,415 miles of rivers and streams, and 11,317 acres of lakes and

ponds, the area is a water paradise.

Aune Medical Center in the WurtsmithRenaissance Zone provides services fromAlpena General Hospital and theVeterans Administration in the formerair base hospital.

Area residents also receive medicalcare from numerous physicians, chiro-practors, dentists and mental healthprofessionals working in private prac-tices. Five nursing homes and extendedcare facilities in the two-county areaprovide about 400 beds for patientsneeding ‘round-the-clock care.DIVERSE OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. With 83miles of Great Lakes shoreline, 415miles of rivers and streams, and 11,317acres of lakes and ponds, the area is awater paradise. The Arenac/Iosco shore-line has three Great Lakes recreationalharbors, numerous marinas and a U.S.Coast Guard station. Iosco County ishome to the AuSable River, a designat-ed Scenic River that is nationallyknown. The Rifle River in Arenac Countyis also a popular canoeing and fishingdestination.

Outdoor enthusiasts from hikers andbikers to hunters and cross-countryskiers appreciate the two-county area’s365,500 acres of forest, which includes53,372 acres of state forest and

112,191 acres of national forest. In all, Arenac and Iosco counties encompass 167,544 acres of land dedicated to public recreation.

The two counties are also home to avibrant cultural scene of music, art,dance and theater. The area’s history iskept alive at unique museums such as the Iosco County Historical Museum inEast Tawas, the Yankee Air Force Museum at the former Wurtsmith AirForce Base, The Arenac County HistoricalMuseum in AuGres, and historic lighthousesin both counties. The two counties arelinked by the Sunrise Side CoastalHighway (US-23), a nationally designatedHeritage Route.

The Iosco-Arenac District Library comprises branch libraries offering a fullspectrum of services, including Internetaccess. The Robert J. Parks branch inOscoda is an official MichiganGovernment Document Depository Library.

Special events, festivals and art fairsare held in Arenac and Iosco communi-ties throughout the year.

If you’re looking to locate or expandyour business, you’ll find a warm welcome,and a bright future, in Arenac and Ioscocounties. ■

Climate Arenac Co. Iosco Co.

January avg. lo/hi 11°F/28°F 29°F/29°F

July avg. lo/hi 56°F/82°F 56°F/80°F

Avg. annual snowfall 45 inches 50 inches

Avg. annual rainfall 28 inches 29 inches

Growing season 126 days 131 days

Source; NOAA Climate Summary, 1995

Housing (2000) Arenac Co. Iosco Co.

Housing units 9,563 20,432

Households 6,710 11,727

Median rent $399/mo. $416/mo.

Median home value $77,700 $77,100

Homeownership rate 84.6% 82%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Partners for a better business community

Charter Township of Oscoda

IDEAL HOMES, INC.

Arenac Abstract & Title Charter Township of AuSable

VantagePlasticsOscoda-WurtsmithAirport Authority

County of Iosco &Iosco County EconomicDevelopment Forum

Sterling

Area

Health

Center

Forward Corporation

NorthlandArea Federal Credit Union

Huron Community Bank

labasterTOWNSHIP

OscodaAreaSchools

City of Standish