Kalamazoo, Michigan

Kalamazoo is a city located in Kalamazoo County in southwest Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,145. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County6.

Economy

Some businesses with roots in Kalamazoo include:

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• The Upjohn Company - Pharmaceuticals maker. It later became Pharmacia and Upjohn and is currently Pfizer. Units are scattered around the area but the main complexes are downtown and in neighboring Portage.
• A. M. Todd - Flavorings
• Kalsec - Flavorings
• Shakespeare Fishing Tackle
• Gibson Guitar Corp. - Musical Instruments (which also spawned Heritage Guitars)
• First of America of Michigan (now National City) - Banking & Finance
• Checker Motors (now a division of GM) - Automobiles, particularly the Checker Cab. Although no longer produced, the Checker enjoys a cult status.
• Pro Co - Audio Equipment
• Stryker Corporation - Medical devices
• Kalamazoo has a large number of beer breweries with five brewhouses brewing over 50 different kinds of beer, ale, porter, stout, and barly wine. The most famous of which is Kalamazoo Brewing Company (producer of Bell's beers) http://www.bellsbeer.comhttp://www.kraftbraubrewery.com/.

In the past, Kalamazoo was known for its production of windmills, buggies, automobiles, cigars, stoves (The Kalamazoo Stove Company's slogan was "A Kalamazoo direct to you"), paper and paper products. Agriculturally, it once was noted for celery and bedding plants.

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Although much has become suburbanized, the countryside still continues to produce significant amounts of crops from farms.

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