With the 2022 Kitchenaid Senior PGA Championship now underway, economic development officials in southwest Michigan are using the opportunity to attract investment. Cornerstone Alliance President Rob Cleveland tells WSJM News the PGA event kickstarts the area’s tourism season.
“It’s regional,” Cleveland said. “It’s Kalamazoo and South Bend and Indianapolis and Chicago. We have all of those people coming in. But it’s much more than that. We have 1,700 volunteers coming in from more than 30 states, from multiple countries who come in to be a part of this. They’re all staying here and spending their money here. It’s a huge economic impact for our community.”
Cleveland says Cornerstone Alliance has spent two years preparing for this event. It’s brought in real estate consultants from Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, and Indianapolis to check out what southwest Michigan has to offer.
“While those people are here, they tour the Cook nuclear plant, they tour Whirlpool Corporation. They’re in a dozen municipalities in this county, experiencing the many great assets and the reasons to be doing business here in southwest Michigan.”
Cleveland says with around 40,000 people coming to Berrien County for the championship, the hotels and restaurants are packed. He tells us it’s impossible to calculate the positive impressions the championship brings to the community.
