Midland SmartZone launches
SM
Volume 5, Issue 2
About Midland Tomorrow
The Midland SmartZone is a new program focused
on accelerating economic growth within the community
through strategic use of Midland’s unique expertise in the
chemical industry and understanding of the global chemical sector. Midland Tomorrow will
manage the Midland SmartZone and will collaborate with Michigan Molecular Institute;
North Coast Technology Investors, LP; MidMichigan Innovation Center; and other entities
as needed to bring about growth and innovation.
SM
®
Using a community-based approach, the Midland SmartZone will consist of three subprograms to grow and develop the industrial base and support high-technology companies:
For the past 50 years, Midland Tomorrow
MIDLAND
ECONOMIC
NEWS
has been enhancing the quality of life
for Midland County residents through
retention and creation of quality jobs and
diversification of the economic base.
As the county-wide economic development
agency, Midland Tomorrow will work
with you and connect you with the right
• Second-Stage Support/Economic Gardening – established to provide smaller
high-tech companies access to a suite of corporate-level services such as CEO
leadership, strategy development, marketing intelligence, new business development
and commercialization, supply chain consultation, financial performance, and cash flow
management.
resources to ensure conditions are met for
• Soft Landing Zone for Foreign Direct Investment – Midland has a distinct competitive
advantage in international business – and, as home to The Dow Chemical Company
and Dow Corning Corporation, is recognized as a global hub of the chemical industry
and a destination of choice for advanced manufacturing companies. This program seeks
to lower or eliminate foreign chemical and materials companies’ barriers to launching a
business in Midland.
ready-to-build industrial sites, resolving
• Business Incubation and Acceleration – established to support new-venture
acceleration and incubation for high-tech companies.
assist your business.
your business to grow and thrive in Midland
County.
Whether it be anything from developing
environmental issues, or developing
business models or strategies, Midland
Tomorrow should be top of mind.
We can confidently and confidentially
Contact us today!
The resulting economic development will diversify Midland’s employment base by bringing
new entrants to the high-tech industry sectors, strengthening the job market for talent and
growing the region’s economy.
Want to learn more? Visit our website at
www.midlandtomorrow.org/MidlandSmartZone.aspx.
Interested in Midland?
Tour it virtually at
www.tourmidland.com!
233 East Larkin Street
Midland, MI 48640
(989) 839-0340
www.midlandtomorrow.org
marketing@midlandtomorrow.org
Cover picture: Courtesy of Brad Befus of Scientific Anglers
ER4.3
Volume 5, Issue 2
MIDLAND
ECONOMIC
NEWS
SUMMER 2014
www.midlandtomorrow.org
SUMMER 2014
www.midlandtomorrow.org
SCIENTIFIC ANGLERS
GEISLER ENTERPRISES
MIDLAND BY THE NUMBERS
FULCRUM COMPOSITES
Creating the ‘line’ on fishing
innovation for nearly 70 years
Incubating businesses;
educating local entrepreneurs
Educational attainment: A key
innovation indicator
In 1945, Scientific Anglers
chose Midland as the home
of an innovative venture.
Three men – Leon Martuch,
Clare Harris and Paul Rottiers – had a single vision: to
create the world’s best fly line. Through experimentation
and inspiration, the men created the first modern plasticcoated tapered fly line – the forerunner to fly lines the
company still makes today and the replacement for
traditional silk lines.
As the global headquarters of two Fortune 500
chemical companies, Midland also is home to
a number of spin-off chemical manufacturing
businesses. Regardless of their corporate
experience, however, first-time entrepreneurs
often need the business wisdom an incubator
can provide. Geisler Enterprises, an industrial incubator
and warehousing facility, helps local entrepreneurs
understand what they need – and what they don’t.
Midland County Educational Attainment
For nearly 70 years, Scientific Anglers has continued to
develop industry-leading technologies that have shaped
the course of fly fishing’s history, such as creating the first
floating fly line (the Air Cel), the first sinking fly line (the
Wet Cel) and the first textured fly line (the Sharkskin).
The company’s most recent innovation is the first tripletextured fly line (the SharkWave), which features the
Sharkskin texture on the first few feet of the line and a
softer, rounded texture on the rest of the line, with a
completely smooth section where anglers will be handling
the line most often. This builds on the Sharkskin series to
take advantage of all the benefits of texturing.
Midland’s talented workforce and supportive business
climate continue to spur on Scientific Anglers’ innovative
ideas, even as the company’s success has led to an
acquisition by a fellow industry leader.
“We were recently purchased by The Orvis Company,
based in Manchester, Vermont, which has a large
number of employees,” said Scientific Anglers President
Jim Lepage. “However, we operate completely separate
of our parent company and continue to maintain our
talented workforce in Midland of 40 to 50 people.”
Today, Scientific Anglers remains the industry leader
in fly-line technology and offers a variety of fly lines
for all types of water, species and environments. The
company’s product lines have grown to include leaders;
tippets; fly boxes; fly reels; innovative accessories; and
starter outfits that include a rod, reel, line and leader.
Scientific Anglers plans to remain at the forefront of flyline technology and to continue offering customers the
highest-quality, longest-lasting and most technologically
advanced fly lines on the market.
Visit Scientific Anglers’ website for more information at
www.scientificanglers.com.
Company President Jim Geisler drew on his own history of
entrepreneurial business to create an industrial incubator
and warehousing space, one client at a time. Today,
Geisler Enterprises has 16 tenants in its 60,000-squarefoot facility, with about 15,000 square feet of warehouse
space remaining. The business is split almost evenly
between warehousing operations and incubation services
and features a blend of tenants across a variety of
industries.
Geisler’s tenants enjoy a wealth of services and amenities,
including shared conference and lunch space, restrooms, and
outdoor maintenance. Geisler, an integral part of the Midland
SmartZone , offers a number of fee-based services, including
forklifts; overhead cranes; pallet jacks; water; truck docks;
compressed air; and 440-, 220- and 110-volt electrical service.
SM
Geisler is impressed with Midland’s entrepreneurial
environment. He sits on the University of MichiganDearborn’s eCities committee, which annually examines
community-level factors that influence entrepreneurship,
economic development and job growth. Midland Tomorrow
works each year to consolidate and submit community
information to the program, which has repeatedly recognized
Midland as a “five-star” community – the highest level of
entrepreneurial excellence.
For more information, call 989-839-7117 or visit
www.geislerinc.com.
Current Geisler Tenants
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Stone Specialists – stone and marble installation and warehousing
Midland Mold & Machining, Inc. – tool and die
Sullair – supplies and warehouses air for The Dow Chemical Company
Elpis Technologies Inc. – manufactures colorants for plastics
Diazem Corporation – chemical manufacturing
American Chemical Society – stores chemicals used in classroom
demonstrations
AMSA, Inc. – antimicrobial specialists
Armin Mersmann, Valerie Allen and M. Guy Sabrie – artists
Covaron Advanced Materials – breakthrough thermosetting
ceramics technology
VanTek Corporation – chemical manufacturing
Innokem LLC – chemical process consulting
Fulcrum Composites – manufacturer of curved composite panels
J & H Service – sewer and drain cleaning
Veteran’s Alarm Inc. – security system installation and
24-hour monitoring
Kitchen Solvers – kitchen design and installation
Warehousing for the Society of Plastics Engineers and other customers
25.0%
20.0%
19.3%
17.9%
15.0%
15.0%
10.0%
12.7%
10.6%
9.8%
10.0%
8.4% 7.7%
5.0%
0.0%
Associate
Degree
Midland County
Bachelor’s
Degree
Michigan
Graduate or
Professional Degree
U.S.
Midland County maintains a highly educated workforce,
which gives companies a competitive edge in the global
marketplace. With higher attainment rates of associate,
bachelor’s and advanced degrees, companies in Midland
can lead the way in innovation.
INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING & MANUFACTURING, INC.
Hope Township company receives
tax abatement
Hope Township is a community of
24 square miles, centrally located
in the northern part of Midland
County. The township consists mainly of rural residential and
agricultural areas as well as many properties located along
the beautiful Wixom Lake.
One company has called Hope its home since 1968:
International Engineering & Manufacturing, Inc., which
specializes in snowmobile performance and safety traction
products. IEM’s private label, Woody’s, is the company’s
premier international product for traction control.
To stay ahead in the manufacturing process and expand
production, the company has undertaken a large investment
that will help to keep its processes in Hope. This investment
has proven IEM’s commitment to both Midland County
and the many employees the company will retain. Hope
Township recently approved IEM’s application for an
Industrial Facilities Tax Exemption on the new equipment.
Exemplifying the
entrepreneurial spirit through
innovative manufacturing
Fulcrum Composites is an example
of both Midland’s chemical
manufacturing expertise and its
entrepreneurial spirit. Founded
as a spin-off of The Dow Chemical Company, Fulcrum
makes curved composite panels for a variety of industries
and applications. The company’s unique composite
technology and proprietary manufacturing processes allow
it to respond quickly and innovatively to new and different
customer challenges.
Fulcrum President Chris Edwards started the company to
help innovative manufacturing stay alive.
“I always liked the idea of manufacturing, and it seemed
like manufacturing in both the U.S. and Europe was
disappearing,” he said. “I wanted to create manufacturing
on a local scale.”
Building on its beginnings designing museum panels
for former Midland firm Design Craftsmen, Fulcrum now
handles projects for clients across the nation. With these
new businesses and industries have come a variety of
new technology applications as Fulcrum works to create
custom solutions to unique problems.
In particular, the company is branching out to drywall
applications: The time- and labor-intensive work of curving
drywall becomes much easier when the drywall can
be shaped around one of Fulcrum’s custom, curved
composite pieces. Fulcrum has created arches for
doorways, covers for columns and even curved corners for
rooms. Fulcrum’s ability to cover its pieces with veneers of
real materials – from wood to marble – helps create a
high-class architectural look without the price or weight.
Edwards says Midland has been a welcoming environment
for Fulcrum for a number of reasons.
“We’re right next door to Dow, and we do a lot of little
R&D and testing jobs for them,” he said. “There’s a huge
brain trust here, especially in chemicals and polymer
chemistry. It’s very useful to be around people who are
knowledgeable about your materials and your issues so
you can discuss problems and solutions with them.
“Groups like Midland Tomorrow, the BlueWater Angels and
North Coast Technology Investors have been incredibly
helpful,” Edwards said. “People in Midland want small
businesses to succeed and will go out of their way to help
– not just organizations, but individuals. Not every city is
like that.”
For more information, visit www.fulcrumcomposites.com.