Cherries

Our Facilities, Our Future

As a not-for-profit electric cooperative, our headquarters is yours too. That’s why we want to keep you in the loop on what the future of our facilities looks like. Here, you’ll find updates, key milestones, and resources. This expansion is all about creating value for you—safe, reliable, and affordable for the long haul.

Then and Now

Our promise to provide service that is member-focused, safe, reliable, and affordable is the same today as it was almost 90 years ago when Cherryland first turned the lights on. While our core mission has remained the same, the cooperative has changed quite a bit over the years.

By the time the cooperative moved from its Cass Street location to our current headquarters in Grawn, we had grown exponentially and have continued growing since. In the more than 50 years we have been in our current headquarters facility, we have seen membership grow by 317%, miles of line by 140% and employees by 72%. Based on 5-year growth trends we will most likely more than double our membership in the next 50 years.

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Miles of Line Growth Since 1972
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Employee Growth Since 1972
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Membership Growth Since 1972

The cooperative’s growth is now outpacing the capacity at our current facility in a way that could possibly impact our mission. We will continue to operate as lean as possible, however as our membership grows, our resources will need to grow too in order to keep up the service members deserve. This is why Cherryland is moving forward with a plan for a new headquarters, ensuring we never have to compromise on the value we provide to current and future Cherryland members. No matter how things change over the years, we’ll always keep our promise to provide member-focused, safe, reliable, affordable power.

Stay up to date on the journey by exploring our progress below.

Updates

June 2025

Public Announcement of Future Facilities

At the 87th Annual Meeting, our CEO, Rachel Johnson, gave members the scoop on the cooperative’s brand-new headquarters plans.

2025 Annual Meeting Video

April 2025

Northern Michigan Ice Storm Highlights Needs

Last March 2025, an ice storm hit two neighboring northern Michigan cooperatives pretty hard. Cherryland pitched in to help out, and this experience highlighted additional tweaks we needed to make to the plans. It also reinforced the need for and value of the new building.

 

April 2025 Board Meeting Minutes

March 2025

Property Permits Underway

Cherryland continues to work with the land developer and Garfield Township on items like water/sewer, development plans, construction permits and zoning application. 

March 2025 Board Meeting Brief Podcast 

January 2025

Infrastructure Preparations Begin

Initial preparations for water and sewer connections are underway. Cherryland continues working with Garfield Township and the land developer to ensure zoning requirements align with our facility plans. 

January 2025 Board Meeting Brief Podcast

December 2024

Board Approves Facility Planning Next Steps

The board heard the latest updates from the facility process, including the latest feasibility findings and design process figures. The board of directors approved signing with Cunningham-Limp Development Company to work on the next design phase of the building.   

December 2024  – Board Meeting Minutes 

December 2024 – Board Meeting Brief Podcast 

November 2024

Property Survey Completed

Grand Traverse Survey conducted a complete property survey, finalizing site measurements and helping guide development plans.  

November 2024 Board Meeting Minutes

October 2024

Facility Discussion on BMB Podcast

Cherryland Leadership discussed the project’s long-term impacts and member benefits on the Board Meeting Brief Podcast.  

Listen Here

September 2024

Evaluating Options and Choosing a Path Forward

Following extensive research, a study assessed whether a new build or upgrades to our current facility would best serve the cooperative. Findings strongly supported new construction for long-term viability.

2023

Laying the Groundwork

Cherryland senior staff visited multiple utilities and other businesses to review building layouts, design options, and safety measures. In the meantime, the cooperative purchased an offsite storage facility to keep supplies and equipment safe and out of the elements.  

February 2024 Board Meeting Brief Podcast 

2022

2022 Land Purchase Process Begins 

After identifying a site right in the heart of things, giving room to grow and easy access for our membership, the board of directors approved the negotiation of a land purchase agreement. The land purchase agreement is contingent on certain land rights, rezoning, and other site preparations. This event marked a milestone in planning for the future. 

2022 Special Session Minutes

2020-2021

Initial Exploration

In order to assess possible options for the cooperative’s future, a relator was engaged to explore locations. This led to the eventual identification of a potential new site.  

2016

Discovery of Facility Shortcomings

Many phases of modifications, facility challenges, including equipment security and safety issues, highlighted the need for a long-term solution. This prompted the start of strategic discussions about the cooperative’s facilities‘ future.

1972

Cherryland Moves to Grawn Headquarters

Just over fifty years ago, Cherryland moved from Cass Street to its current facility in Grawn. This move provided an opportunity for years of growth inside and outside the cooperative walls. 

Facility Mentions

Cherries

Frequently Asked Questions

We know you may have questions about Cherryland’s new facility project. Below are some of the most commonly asked questions.

  • Simply put, we have outgrown our current facility. When our current headquarters was built in 1972, Cherryland had 36 employees and served 9,408 members. We now have 65 employees and serve over 39,000 members. In addition to the growth of cooperative employees and members, warehouse overload, inventory storage, and security are all major factors taken into consideration. Our goal with a new facility is to make sure we can continue meeting our members’ needs with the same safe, affordable, reliable service you’ve come to expect.
  • An important part of investigating our future facilities plan was exploring every option. That included taking a look at what it would take to renovate our current facility. The cost to renovate the current facility is comparable to a new building, and wouldn’t come with the same longevity as a new building. To meet the needs of our growing membership, it wouldn’t be long before we’d outgrow any potential renovation at our current location.
  • We are still in the planning phase and evaluating costs. We take our fiscal responsibility to the membership very seriously. While we know it will be a big investment, we have done the research to know it’s the best way to ensure we continue to keep the lights on for our members. So, we don’t have concrete pricing to share with you today, but you can count on us to be open and transparent with that information when we do.
  • We are in the process of purchasing a lot off Rennie School Road in Garfield Township just a few miles northeast of our current headquarters.
  • We started noticing pinch points at our current facility back in 2016. After many strategic discussions, the decision to explore opportunity for more space came in 2020. The co-op entered a purchase agreement for the land on Rennie School Road in 2022. In 2023 and 2024, we conducted facilities studies to explore all of our options. Today we’re still in the planning phase and you can follow along with regular updates on this webpage.
  • Nope! You can expect the same great service with access to our member services team in person, on the phone, or via email in addition to your SmartHub tools. If we do expect any minor disruptions, we’ll be sure you know about it.

Further Questions?

We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to give us a call at (231) 486-9200 or send us an email at [email protected].