Five organizations will be honored for their commitment to the Lansing region at the 16^th annual Celebration of Regional Growth (CORG) Awards, taking place Tuesday, Nov. 9 at the Kellogg Center Hotel and Conference Center in Lansing. This year’s CORG honorees include Allen Neighborhood Center, Bekum America, High Caliber Karting and Entertainment, Lansing Board of Water and Light and McLaren Greater Lansing. All five organizations are recognized for investments that are making a transformational impact in the community.

The luncheon will take place as part of Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce’s monthly Lansing Economic Club. The CORG Awards is an annual event presented by the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce. This year’s luncheon is sponsored by PNC Bank and Loomis, Ewert, Parsley, Davis & Gotting, P.C. Consumers Energy will serve as the video sponsor.

“The investments by these five organizations represent the amazing transformation that is taking place throughout the Greater Lansing region,” said Tim Daman, president and CEO, Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce. “The combined investments are transforming an urban neighborhood and a suburban shopping center, and demonstrating national leadership in health care, clean energy, international trade and advanced manufacturing.”

2021 CORG Award Honorees:

The Allen Neighborhood Center (ANC) is a dynamic hub where Lansing’s Eastside neighbors access programs focused on health, food security/access, youth development, entrepreneurism, job skill training, corridor revitalization, and neighborhood capacity-building. ANC’s most ambitious project to date is the $11 million Allen Place, a mixed-use development converting the complex at the 1600 block of East Kalamazoo Street in Lansing, Michigan, into Allen Place, a comprehensive community space providing 21 units of mixed-income housing along with commercial space, integrative services and programming.

Bekum America has long been a national leader in the blow molding industry. Bekum’s expansion of its Williamston production facility and corporate headquarters also enhances its position as a global trade leader. The new facility adds 38,000 square feet of manufacturing and 7,400 square feet of office space to Bekum’s existing 115,000 square foot facility. The new addition was designed by c2ae and was built by Wieland. The new expansion will allow Bekum America to increase machine output, shorten lead times, and continue expanding the workforce. Bekum’s manufacturing team proudly shipped the first machine from the new machine assembly hall in May.

When High Caliber Karting and Entertainment opened its indoor go-karting, ax throwing, gamified entertainment center and bistro in the Meridian Mall, it changed the concept of what going to a mall is all about. Over the past two years, High Caliber has challenged its visitors to “Punch Boredom in the Face.” High Caliber Karting has taken its game to another level, recently opening a $2 million, 25,000-square foot expansion, including a new bar, 16 additional lanes of gamified axe throwing, 15 lanes of throw bowling and two VIP rooms.

When the Lansing Board of Water and Light (LBWL) fired up its recently completed natural gas-fired Delta Energy Park, it took a significant step in its drive towards coal-free power. Located at the Erickson Power Station in Delta Township, the new plant will replace both BWL’s coal-fired plants, Eckert which was retired in 2020 and Erickson Power Stations, which will go offline in 2025. Retiring both plants will make the BWL become the largest utility in Michigan to generate coal-free power by 2025, reducing its carbon emissions by 80 percent.

McLaren Greater Lansing (MGL) is a few months away from officially entering a new era in health care. Workers are putting the finishing touches on McLaren’s $600 million comprehensive health care campus, being developed at the MSU Foundation’s University Corporate Research Park, located between Collins Road and U.S. 127. MGL plans to begin seeing patients at the 240 bed, 500,000-square-foot facility in March 2022. The McLaren campus will house a state-of-the-art hospital, cancer center, ambulatory, and other facilities to support health care delivery.