The South Haven City Council has voted to continue supporting Market One and the work it does to encourage economic development in the region for another year.
At a meeting this week, Market One Director Zach Morris led a presentation for the council, laying out the organization’s successes from past years and its goals for coming years. He said since 2016, Market One has helped create 1,284 jobs in Cass and Van Buren counties, representing a more than $2 billion capital investment. He said it’s also helped secure $34 million in grants.
“This has been work we’ve done on high speed internet, this has been work we’ve done individually with businesses to help them secure money to implement Industry 4.0, to training dollars, to supporting downtowns, parks, housing,” Morris said.
Morris said the region isn’t without its challenges, though.
“The electric grid is not stable, and we all should be very concerned about he future with data centers. Data centers are absolute energy hogs, and I get calls all the time from developers asking for a minimum of 150 megawatts. The nuclear plant down the road is 800.”
Morris said another major challenge for South Haven is a shortage of affordable housing, which prevents younger workers from moving to the area. Market One is currently working with two developers interested in creating new housing, mostly in Covert Township and South Haven Township because space is lacking in the city.
Morris said upcoming projects planned by Market One are expected to create 227 jobs, retain 572 jobs, and generate $73 million in economic impact.
The council approved its agreement with Market One for another year at a cost of $12,700.
