Cornerstone Alliance
38 W. Wall Steet, P.O. Box 428
Benton Harbor, MI 49023-0428
269.925.6100
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History

Over 20 years of Building the Community through Partnerships

How did Cornerstone Alliance begin?

>>>In adjusting to the global marketplace in the mid-eighties, Clark Equipment Company, Auto Specialties Manufacturing Company, Michigan Standard Alloys, Whirlpool Corporation, VM Corporation, and other local employers consolidated and down-sized, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs in the community. Once the county's industrial power hub, Benton Harbor was hard hit by the jobs lost, suffering above average unemployment, decreasing tax rolls, dilapidated housing, and increasing social problems. The city's aging infrastructure-sewer and water, roads and streets-were soon in need of repair, improvement, or replacement.

>>>Recognizing municipal interdependence, business and government leaders took action in 1987 to put the cities of Benton Harbor and St. Joseph; Benton, St. Joseph, and Lincoln Charter Townships; and Royalton Township on a path to revitalization and growth. Working through the Twin Cities Area Chamber of Commerce, they created the Community Economic Development Corporation (CEDC), a non-profit organization to generate economic growth and promote civic development in the community, with emphasis on Benton Harbor.

>>>Based on a consultant-prepared plan, Whirlpool Corporation and 200 area businesses, municipalities, and organizations banded together to create the funding needed to create change in the community. The CEDC addressed a comprehensive program centered around five areas: Industrial Park System, Recreational and Waterfront Development, Infrastructure Improvements, Bellview Neighborhood, and Existing Business & Retention and Expansion.

>>>On July 19, 1991, the CEDC and Twin Cities Area Chamber of Commerce merged into one organization-Cornerstone Alliance-uniting into a single, more versatile and efficient economic and community development organization. Since that time, Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce has become an independent organization that is an affiliate of Cornerstone Alliance. Today, Cornerstone Alliance and Chamber of Commerce boasts over 700 members and investors.

For a further look at the history of our organization, please click here.