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

It pays to do business in Michigan's Great Southwest!

The state of Michigan ranked 12th in Site Selection magazines's 2007 Top State Business Climate Rankings. The ranking is based 50 percent on a survey of corporate site selectors and 50 percent on a state's performance in four categories: (1) the state's overall rank in total qualifying new or expanded projects in 2006, (2) new plant performance from 2004-2006, (3) rank per million population, and (4) rank per 1,000 square miles. At 50 percent of the final ranking, the input of corporate site selectors is crucial.  They determine which 10 states they think have the best business climate based on their experience of managing property assets around the country.

Michigan's Great Southwest is a key contributor to the state's attainment of this favorable ranking in the Whirlpoolbusiness climate category. We are home to a diversified mix of companies including appliance giant, Whirlpool Corporation, which grew up here and maintains its world headquarters in Benton Harbor.

The area offers the following business climate to companies and businesses choosing to location here.

  • A multi-modal transportation network that includes air, water, rail and highway routes.  Strategically located on the Chicago/Detroit, Grand Rapids/Indianapolis vectors, we are served by major interstate highways, airports, rail transportation, and shipping; both deep draft and river barge.
  • Utility rates below the national average.
  • Within a 500-mile radius of the community, you'll find 54% of all of the nation's manufacturing, 48% of retail sales, 54% of the nation's business payroll, and 65% of Canada's gross national product.
  • In 2005, ranked as one of the top 270 Communities to Do Business by Inc. Magazine, a business friendly environment awaits you including competitive incentives such as several Renaissance Zone sites with incredible tax incentives.

Michigan's Great Southwest offers low taxes and lower utility costs when compared to many other communities across the state and the nation.  And, in 2008 many local businesses saw their taxes drop even further with the State's new Michigan Business Tax (MBT).  The new tax provides significant credits for investment in human capital in addition to investment in research and development activities.  The MBT cuts large industrial business' personal property taxes by approximately 65%, and has many other opportunities directed specifically at smaller businesses.

Cornerstone Alliance has more information on our improving business climate. Contact the professionals at Cornerstone Alliance to let us show you how our area is the perfect location for your business.