Market Van Buren has changed its name.
The economic development organization started five years to help grow the economy in Van Buren County, but Director Zack Morris tells us they expanded to Cass County in 2021. To reflect that, they’ve come up with a new title.
“Market Van Buren is not the same as being able to say, ‘Hey, we’re doing Cass County’s economic development too,’” Morris said. “It just didn’t work, right? So, what we knew we need to do is rebrand. What we’ve done is created a new entity called Market One.”
Morris says Market One suits the area as Van Buren and Cass County, when viewed on a map, look like a number one. The name change was announced this week at the organization’s annual awards event at Marion Magnolia Farms in Cassopolis.
Morris says at thee awards, they honored businesses and partners that have really been shaking things up in Cass and Van Buren counties the past year. For example, the Economic Pioneer of the Year Award went to Midwest Energy and Communications in Cassopolis.
“They particularly have been doing outstanding work in the space of fiber optic internet throughout southwest Michigan. You look at what they’ve done over the course of 10 years, over 33,000 unserved parcels are now being served with high speed fiber optic internet.”
Other awards included the Community Champion of the Year Award for Charles River Laboratories in Mattawan, the Municipal Trailblazer of the Year Award for the village of Cassopolis, and the Business Innovator of the Year Award for Special-Lite in Decatur. Also, the Best New Business Award went to Divine Dough Company in Edwardsburg and Kitchen Tribes in South Haven.
Morris says the event was also held to celebrate Market Van Buren’s — or Market One’s — five-year anniversary.
