Unlike areas where many jobs are provided by a few employers, Kalamazoo County has a diverse base of industrial employers that collectively support its local economy. More than 400 industrial employers manufacture a wide range of products, including pharmaceuticals, plastics, medical equipment, paper products, fabricated metals, industrial robots, chemicals and aircraft controls. Together these firms provide jobs for nearly 20 percent of the area’s workforce.
The largest employer in Kalamazoo County is Pfizer, Inc., which employs more than 6,000 people in its administrative, research and manufacturing facilities in Portage.
Agriculture also plays an important role in the county’s economy; in fact, Comstock Township, just east of Kalamazoo, is the Bedding Plant Capital of the world.
Kalamazoo County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Michigan and its traditionally low unemployment rate is lower than the national average. A total of 26 employment agencies recruit temporary workers for area businesses and many of the area’s college students fill available temporary and part-time positions.
- NUMBER1EXPERT™ 
