The city of Bridgman has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to update its master plan.
Greater Bridgman Area Chamber and Growth Alliance Director Nancy Kiernan tells us the CGA helped the city secure the funds as it seeks Redevelopment Ready Community certification from the MEDC. That would unlock additional state support.
Kiernan says having an up to date and complete master plan is a best practice to make the community more attractive to developers.
“We want to make sure that we have all of the resources that are available to developers easily accessible,” Kiernan said. “So if people look at Bridgman and they are thinking about making an investment here, they can immediately see who they need to talk to.”
And Kiernan says at the CGA, there has been an uptick in interest in Bridgman.
“And I spend a good deal of my time making sure that people have all of the information they need about a building that they might be interested in, about a particular parcel they might be interested in, and about the incentives that the city is able to bring to get people to invest here.”
The CGA will work with the city to update the master plan to help those investors get the information and support they need when they come to town. Kiernan says the grant is a direct result of the city and the CGA working together.
The two partners will now get to work on the master plan and develop ways to keep the public engaged.
