Mt. Pleasant Community
Profile
Mt. Pleasant is
located in the geographic center of Michigan’s lower peninsula.
It is a friendly community, dedicated to retaining small town
traditions while building a vital economy, thus assuring a stable future for
its residents. The area population can swell to 2 or 3 times the official
25,946 due to special events and thousands of visitors each day to the Soaring
Eagle Resort and Casino, located at the east city limits.
Mt.
Pleasant is home to Central Michigan University, a doctoral-intensive
university serving more than 19,000 students with excellent educational
opportunities and partnerships with businesses throughout the state of
Michigan. With its 2,165 employees, CMU is one of the community's greatest
assets.
While located
within the City, Central Michigan Community Hospital has positioned itself as
a regional health care organization offering a full range of health and
wellness services, including many medical specialty clinics.
Area health providers Mid-Michigan Health Care and Gratiot Community
Health Care Services have recently established facilities here, further
expanding the health care offerings available.
Mt. Pleasant has a
“home-town” look and feel, and its residents have many opportunities for
hands-on participation in its life through school and church programs, local
government, the Volunteer Center, Habitat for Humanity, the Chippewa River
Conservancy, and many other local service groups.
Volunteers have built the community football stadium, a children’s
playscape spreading over nearly an acre at a local park, and a community
recreation center and hockey rink.
The
City of Mt. Pleasant was incorporated over 100 years ago.
It is recognized throughout the state of Michigan as a stable but
innovative employer and customer-based service provider.
The City has a council-manager form of government, in which a City
Manager is appointed by the City Commission.
The Commission is made up of seven non-partisan members, each elected
at-large. The Mayor is a member
of the Commission and is selected on an annual basis by his or her colleagues.
The
City Manager assumes a role not unlike a chief executive officer and is
responsible for the day-to-day administration of the City’s business.
In the last thirty years, only three managers have served the community
and its 140 employees. The
City’s business operations are divided into four divisions: Public
Safety, Public Works, Finance and Records, and Community Services and Human
Resources.
Recreation
and Culture
Something
for Everyone
Located
in the “middle of the mitten,” the Mt. Pleasant/Isabella County area
offers an abundance of recreational and cultural opportunities ranging from
Pee-Wee hockey to chamber music concerts.
In addition, the climate and physical situation of the city in the
Chippewa River watershed make possible four seasons of varied outdoor
activities. Golf enthusiasts can
enjoy 13 courses within a 30-minute drive.
Surrounding farmlands and state preserves see heavy use by local
hunters.
The
Mt. Pleasant Parks and Recreation Department provides a wide range of
recreational programs, including youth (soccer, golf, tee-ball, tennis) and
adult (basketball, volleyball, softball, tennis) programming and many special
events. Community organizations
also sponsor hockey, rocket football and skating programs.
In addition, the Department operates and maintains 11 parks comprising
300 acres, offering venues for picnicking, swimming, fishing, canoeing, hiking and bird watching. Isabella
County’s park system adds another 900 acres, with opportunities for similar
outside activities, as well as camping and cross-country skiing.
For many years the city has been known as the site of Central Michigan
University, which helped shape the city's identity and offers NCAA Division 1A
men's and women's athletics. General admission tickets for both football and
basketball are affordable and available, and admission for many other sports
activities is free. The University also sponsors several
series offering a wide variety of professional musical and dramatic
presentations and nationally-known speakers, as well as a student theater
series. The music department offers a multitude of concerts and recitals, many
of which are free or low cost. CMU's College of Communication and Fine Arts
graduates paint, conduct, act, direct, design, sing, write, compose, film,
debate, dance, report, edit, interpret, sculpt, choreograph, draw, weave,
cast, and broadcast.
Integral
to the community and a part of its identity are the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal
activities. Their Soaring Eagle
Hotel and Casino complex has gained national recognition.
The Tribe also offers programs throughout the year which allow
participants to catch a glimpse of their rich cultural heritage.
Educational
Opportunities Abound
Fully accredited, Central Michigan University continues to be an
educational leader, with 38 academic departments and more than 150 fields of
study. Through its College of Extended Learning, the university operates more
than 60 off-campus programs throughout North America. CMU
has continued its original mission to provide the highest undergraduate and
graduate experiences that develop effective professionals, critical thinkers,
and lifelong learners. The College of Science and
Technology provides academic and research opportunities in the areas of
biology, geography, chemistry, geology, computer science, industrial and
engineering technology, mathematics and physics. Many opportunities for field
work are open to students at CMU's Biological Station on Beaver Island in Lake
Michigan. Undergraduates are offered many opportunities to present research
and other projects at professional meetings and displays at local and state
levels.
Mid-Michigan
Community College, whose home campus is in Harrison, has found a place here
and operates programs for those who wish to transfer to a university or
prepare for a career in health, business
or industrial technologies. In
addition, five other colleges and/or universities are within 45 miles of Mt.
Pleasant.
There
is a multitude of choices for students in grades kindergarten through twelve. Mt. Pleasant Public Schools (MPPS) operates 7 elementary
schools, 1 intermediate school (7th and 8th grades), and
1 high school, all of which have recently been renovated and/or expanded.
In addition to its intensive fine arts program, the high school
provides an area vocational center. MPPS
augments a strong basic education with comprehensive programming in special
and gifted education.
Sacred
Heart Academy has been fully accredited by the University of Michigan since
1902 and offers a comprehensive program of activities and athletics for grades
K-12.
A
traditional Christian school for grades K-12, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Academy (MPBA)
was founded in 1984 and is primarily a college preparatory institution.
Two
public charter schools, Renaissance Public School Academy and Morey Charter
School, offer curriculum choices unique to their philosophies.
Business and
Economic Development
The
mission of the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce is to enhance a diversified
business environment that fosters a progressive and economically viable
community. Established in 1909,
the Chamber is the unified voice for the business community, and consistently
provides valuable programs, products and services to help strengthen the area
economy.
Middle Michigan
Development Corporation
(MMDC) is the community's economic development agency, providing confidential
assistance to both existing and new industry.
As the Mt. Pleasant/Isabella County area continues to experience
significant growth among retail and service businesses, the Soaring Eagle
Casino and Resort complex, and Central Michigan University, industry is also
expanding, requiring new and innovative assistance.
With its broad-based 64-member Board of Directors, 6 primary
clients, and 30 corporate sponsors, MMDC continues to provide the kind of
assistance new and expanding industry requires and expects.
Central Michigan University is poised to meet the demands of
business and industry through cooperative projects with faculty and staff that
boost and attract new industries to the area through
The
Center for Applied Research and Technology, located in one of Michigan's
SmartZones in Mount Pleasant. Designated by the Michigan
Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) as one of only 11 "SmartZones
" across the state, the Center for Applied Research and Technology at CMU
is focused on attracting and stimulating high-tech businesses that require a
synergistic relationship with a research intensive university like CMU. The
center at CMU is where business, applied research and technology work together
to solve complex business problems. The center is a launching point for high
tech entrepreneurial activity and is focused on revitalizing university
teaching and research activities retaining talent and wealth in mid-Michigan.
At CMU's College of Business Administration, the number one priority is
to help students develop the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful
in today's real world of business. The college has established an advisory
board incorporating the advice of leaders from some of the world's largest
companies - Comerica, The Dow Chemical Company, DaimlerChrysler and Merrill
Lynch to name a few. The undergraduate and graduate business degree programs
are professionally accredited by the American Association of Colleges and
Schools of Business. The AACSB is the premier global business school
accrediting agency for business degree programs. Less than 400 business
programs of more than 1,200 in the nation - and several thousand programs
worldwide - have received this accreditation.
