Michigan Sugar Company is an agricultural cooperative, based in Bay City, Michigan

Bay City, Michigan

Bay City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and is the principal city of the Bay City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Saginaw-Bay City-Saginaw Township North...

, that specializes in the processing of beet sugar. Founded in 1906, Michigan Sugar sells beet sugar under the brand names Big Chief and Pioneer.

Michigan Sugar operates four beet sugar mills, all located in the U.S. state of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, and operates three shipping and distribution centers in Michigan and the adjacent state of Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

. The firm has a permanent employment

Permanent Employment

Permanent employees or regular employees work for a single employer and are paid directly by that employer. In addition to their wages, they often receive benefits like subsidized health care, paid vacations, holidays, sick time, or contributions to a retirement plan. Permanent employees are often...

 headcount of 450 employees, to which are added 1,750 additional seasonal employees during the times of year when sugar beets are harvested and processed.

During much of its history, Michigan Sugar was a publicly-traded, private-sector firm. It was later a subsidiary of Imperial Sugar

Imperial Sugar

Imperial Sugar is a major U.S. sugar producer and marketer based in Sugar Land, Texas, with sugar refinery operations in California, Georgia, and Louisiana....

; after the 2001 bankruptcy of its former parent firm, Michigan Sugar went cooperative in February 2002. Since that time the cooperative has been owned by a consortium of more than 1,000 sugar beet farmers who grow beets, mostly in Michigan's Thumb

The Thumb

The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten; thus the Thumb is the area that looks like the thumb of the mitten. The Thumb is generally considered to be in the Mid-Michigan area of the state, located east of Flint/Tri-Cities...

, for processing.

See also

• Western Sugar Cooperative
  Western Sugar Cooperative
  The Western Sugar Cooperative is a grower owned American agricultural cooperative.Its origins date from 1903 when Charles Boettcher founded the Great Western Sugar Company and opened a sugar beet plant in Loveland, Colorado and another in Greeley, Colorado...
  
  , a parallel firm based in Colorado
  Colorado
  Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
  
  .
• Michigan Sugar Festival
  Michigan Sugar Festival
  The Michigan Sugar Festival is an event that occurs one weekend in the middle of June each year. It is held in the village of Sebewaing, Michigan.-Purpose:...
  
  , a festival held in Sebewaing, Michigan
  Sebewaing, Michigan
  Sebewaing is a village in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,974 at the 2000 census. The village is within Sebewaing Township. This small community is known as the Sugar Beet Capital, due to the Michigan Sugar slicing mill located within the village and the yearly...
  
   dedicated to the sugar beet
  Sugar beet
  Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
  
  .