Over half of Newaygo County, Michigan lies within the beautiful Huron-Manistee National Forest. Nestled amongst hundreds of natural lakes and 350 miles of rivers and streams, the county of 53,000 residents is a little-known treasure ready to welcome outdoor enthusiasts. Many tourists flock to both the Muskegon and White Rivers, which are teeming with steelhead in the spring and salmon in the fall, making the surrounding communities a popular location for summer cottages, camping, and RVing.
And this natural paradise is only a short drive to urban amenities. “Newaygo County is such a hidden gem, in part, due to our proximity to the metro Grand Rapids area,” says Senior Economic Development Director Julie Burrell. “We are very commutable in almost every corner of the county to larger urban areas, allowing for a much wider variety of job opportunities for our residents. Our quality of life tips us over the top, providing additional opportunities for outdoor recreation that cannot be found in urban areas. We have thousands of acres of publicly accessible land, two river systems, over 230 lakes, tons of trails for hiking, biking, or RVing, and we are within about 30 minutes of Lake Michigan! Newaygo County has an opportunity for pretty much anyone looking for adventure.”
Word of this desirable destination has gotten out and tourists are eager to take advantage of all this scenic getaway has to offer. “We certainly see a lot of positive tourism impact within Newaygo County,” Burrell says. “Through all four seasons, we enjoy an influx of visitors,” and the distinct communities within the county combine their efforts to accommodate these tourists. “We see a lot of collaboration and each community works together to provide a unified visitor experience,” she says.
An active and dedicated nonprofit organization leads tourism development in Newaygo County, and the team is celebrating recent achievements such as a new birding trail with stops throughout the county. “We will also launch some additional tourism signage that will further enhance the visitor experience within each community,” says Burrell. “So, it doesn’t matter if you’re in the biggest community or the smallest community, you’re going to have that consistency throughout the county. We’re really excited about these enhancements and are looking forward to continuing to welcome new visitors, year after year.”
Indeed, Newaygo County relies on tourism for major economic support, but manufacturing far exceeds other sectors as the largest contributor to Newaygo County’s economy. The county has five major communities, three of which boast industrial parks, home to companies like White River Knife & Tool and Magna Mirrors. “A few of our major employers have developed fairly large campuses within the Newaygo Industrial Park, and it is officially out of developable space,” Burrell says of the large park located in the city of Newaygo.
A smaller park in White Cloud still has some available space for incoming industry, with about two to five acres of land per parcel. “There is close proximity to rail, and also close proximity to an interstate within about 15 miles,” she says. The city of Fremont, in the west end of the county, has an industrial park with approximately 50 acres available. “It’s not all contiguous, but there are some larger parcels of property ready for development, featuring full infrastructure—wastewater, sewer, natural gas, really great electric capacity, great wastewater capacity,” Burrell says. “Fremont is a great spot for food processing, although other uses would be great there as well. [It is in] close proximity to a lot of local farms and just down the road from Gerber Products, which is owned by Nestlé.”
Currently underway are key infrastructure expansions in Fremont that will make the area even more desirable for incoming businesses, including additional upgrades to the wastewater capacity. “This will further support food processing or other heavy wastewater users,” Burrell says. “It has been really exciting and most upgrades were completed late 2024.”
Businesses also have exciting expansions underway. “GM Wood Products announced an expansion early in 2024. They are looking to enhance their capacity and add new product lines and, of course, add some new positions as well. We also continue to see additional investment from Nestlé/Gerber in their Fremont facility.”
The community has come together to complete an in-depth Community Action Plan, further bolstering the area’s business environment. “That project was a collaborative opportunity with the Fremont Area Community Foundation and the Newaygo County Economic Development Partnership, in conjunction with all of the cities and villages within Newaygo County and our chamber partners,” says Burrell. “We were able to obtain some funding through Michigan’s Office of Rural Prosperity.”
The team examined each individual community within Newaygo County to find the specific needs they needed addressed. This effort included “looking at all of the data that exists for that community, obtaining some input from students and from the community stakeholders, and going through an actual walking tour of the communities to get boots on the ground to further enhance identification of opportunities. Our consultant, Fishbeck, was able to put together a fairly robust plan that is individualized for each community.”
The end result is “an actual action plan of suggested tasks to complete,” says Burrell. There is heavy emphasis on downtown improvement, which includes beautification efforts as well as filling vacancies. “Of course, each community is at different levels of their journey, whether that’s development or just revitalizing their downtown. And so, each plan really is unique to each community.”
These specific, targeted suggestions make the plan exceedingly practical and comprehensive. “It goes through who’s responsible for different things, what resources are needed, and what are some expected challenges or obstacles. So that way, it’s really a plan that can be utilized versus just a study that was done that just sits on a shelf. It’s broken down in a way that is tangible and digestible by communities that may have a one-person staff or only volunteers.”
When looking toward the future, county leaders want to “prioritize being innovative,” Burrell says. To make that happen, they are putting a strong focus on the development of future leaders. This includes “working with our local school districts and our ISD to really ensure that we’re developing and producing high-quality employees to be able to fill vacancies and just be great leaders for the future of our community.”
In addition, “we also launched a leadership program in 2024. [We are] trying to be intentional about developing those skills, so that way we don’t run into issues in 10 years or have turnover of folks who’ve been in leadership roles for a long time.”
The second focus will be on housing. “That’s not a crisis that’s unique to Newaygo County by any means,” says Burrell. “It’s certainly across Michigan and across the rest of the country. But Newaygo County has been very innovative in addressing this challenge by partnering very intentionally with the Fremont Area Community Foundation and others, and we have made great strides in addressing the housing challenges in Newaygo County. While we still have a ways to go, we have really been focusing on making a dent in the housing gap that exists today.”
Ultimately, the ongoing goal is “making sure that we continue our momentum, focusing on the small businesses and the major employers that are within our community now, and continuing to make sure that they are able to thrive and grow and that Newaygo County remains a great place to live, build a career, raise a family, or retire in.”
