History In The Making

From a small local office serving a growing rural membership to the modern, tech-forward facilities we need today, Cherryland’s story has always been one of growing alongside the communities we serve. Every chapter in our history reflects the same commitment: making thoughtful investments that keep service safe, reliable, affordable, and ready for whatever comes next.

• 122 E. Front Street, Traverse City
• Cherryland was officially formed in July 1938. Less than a year later, we turned the lights on for our first members and our four employees moved into the co-op’s first headquarters.
• 60 members

• 213 Bay Street, Traverse City
• Rural communities quickly realized the value electricity would bring and the co-op needed more staff, more materials, and more space to keep up with the growing membership.
• 2,000 members

• 1102 Cass Street, Traverse City
• We’d figured out how to keep up with bringing power to new homes, farms, and businesses. It was time to make sure members had a welcoming space to come drop off their meter cards, pay their bills, and ask questions about their cooperative.
• 2,997 members

• 5930 US 31 South, Grawn
• Cherryland’s membership more than tripled in size. 36 staff members were building, maintaining, and expanding upon our 1,355 miles of line. Growth was steady and we needed a space built for an electric utility, not retrofitted to serve as one. So, Cherryland built a facility that would support the membership for decades to come.
• 9,408 members

• Boardroom and Office Space Expansion, Drive-Thru, and Warehouse
• 17 years after we moved in, we were growing in every direction. The membership was growing, our staff grew to serve those members, and the world as we knew it started to look a lot different. So, our headquarters needed to evolve, too. More space to serve. More ways to accommodate our members’ needs.
• 15,815 members

• More members require more infrastructure, and that means more materials and equipment. Our warehouse was busting at the seams, so we built an addition onto our existing warehouse to house our growing fleet and inventory.
• 31,203 members

• Up until now, staff had just a small, office-sized break room to gather, share a meal, or meet to discuss new ideas. When we moved into the Grawn headquarters, we had 36 staff members. That team grew to 58 to manage growth in membership, technology, and member programs. It was time to create space for this team to do what they do best—work together creatively and purposefully to serve our members.
• 31,901 members

• 50 years after moving into the Grawn headquarters, the growth of our system, membership, and workforce started catching up with us. We got creative to make the most out of our space. A reconfigured office here. An overflow storage rental there. When the opportunity to purchase property off of Rennie School Road arose, the co-op began evaluating options for the future of Cherryland’s headquarters facility.
• 39,944 members

• Oleson Boulevard
• 90 years after your cooperative was formed, you’ll get to experience another important milestone in Cherryland history—the transition to Cherryland’s new headquarters facility off of Rennie School Road. This facility will provide the space, innovation, and security for the next generation of cooperative members.