MAJOR Campus and investments in recreational areas for the community

The Marshall Area Jobs Opportunities and Recreation Campus (MAJOR) covers nearly 2,000 acres west of the City of Marshall. It is bounded on the north by Michigan Avenue (M-96), the Kalamazoo River on the south, 12 Mile Road on the west, and Bear Creek on the east.

The MAJOR Campus includes Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park, a new advanced manufacturing facility occupying more than 500 acres east of 13 Mile Road. It will create 1,700 local jobs when it begins producing batteries for electric vehicles in 2026.

The Ford facility will be the first development on the MAJOR Campus to receive water and sewer service. The water and sewer infrastructure being built to provide that service will also serve future growth and recreational projects on the campus.

The MAJOR Campus will feature additional greenspaces and areas for tourism, recreation and educational resources.

At Bear Creek, local leaders are taking steps to develop a 36-acre natural area that will include a park, museum and nature center that connects to a 218-acre conservation easement running along the north side of the Kalamazoo River.

Community stakeholders also are exploring an opportunity to create a nature trail along the easement that could be incorporated into the North Country Trail. This greenspace effort will include planting new trees and creating a green buffer and natural areas on the MAJOR Campus.

The map below shows the overall project vicinity and layout with major project components.