Insider Guide: Erika Wehrwein

Erika Wehrwein grew up near Midland in Gladwin, Michigan. The she went to war.

After serving as a Staff Sergeant in the Army Reserve for nearly 10 years while attending college full-time in-between, Erika ended up moving to Midland and connecting with the Midland Area Chamber of Commerce. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing at Davenport University and an MBA at Northwood University. “I went to a career counselor and he told me I should join a professional organization,” she recalls. “He said, ‘Oh, it sounds like you want to network,’ and I didn’t even know what that meant!”

She found herself at the Chamber and became increasingly more involved with the Chamber’s activities, even becoming an ambassador. “This is how everyone knows what’s going on in the city,” she says. Because of her involvement with the Chamber, when the Development Coordinator position opened she was an ideal candidate. Her main role is to bring in new members and work with current members on utilizing the benefits of their membership with the Chamber.
 
Midland is branded as a regional destination along with neighboring Bay City and Saginaw (each only a 20-minute drive from Midland). The region as a whole offers plenty of attractions and activities, but the city of Midland itself has its own unique offerings. Erika says that one of the coolest things Midland has is the Pere Marquette Rail-Trail, a former railroad corridor converted into a 28-mile multi-use hiking and biking path that starts at the “Tridge”. “We have a big exercise community here—there’s bike lanes [on the roads], tons of bike shops, and people are always out running and biking. The Rail-Trail runs by Northwood and connects to all the different cities.” Midland County also has a huge number of parks for outdoor recreation. “It’s a very family- and outdoor-oriented city.”

Another one of Midland’s unique cultural attractions is the Midland Center for the Arts, which brings in theatre performances, comedians, musicians and any number of other performance arts. They also host a variety of exhibitions in the arts, sciences and history.

The Dow Gardens is located right next to the Midland Center for the Arts, a beautifully-landscaped 110-acre botanical garden with walking trails, a greenhouse and many seasonal flowering beds and plants. The Dow Diamond is also a huge summertime attraction for the community. “Dow basically decided to buy a [minor league] baseball team,” Erika says. “You can park anywhere in the city and just walk there and see a baseball game for $9. It has really picked up the economy; the whole family can afford it.”

The Midland Brewing Company is a popular local brewery; enjoy a pint of one of their craft brews and have some pizza delivered to go along with it – while they don’t actually have a brewpub license to serve food, they have plenty of menus you can order from and have food delivered.

But if pizza is what you’re in the mood for, Erika swears by the pizza at Larkin Food Center about five miles out of town. “It’s a gas station and convenience store but they have the BEST pizza,” she insists. “They use all the high-quality foods they carry there; they use homemade sauce and [all of the toppings are] straight from the farm. I am a pizza connoisseur so I know if it’s good pizza!” Just be sure to order about 40 minutes in advance.

Stacker Grill is another one of Erika’s favorite food spots. “It’s a little hole in the wall and they only serve breakfast and lunch, but it’s awesome. It’s always jam-packed; it’s kind of a Midland tradition.”