Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.
 
 
BATTLE CREEK, MI — Guests of a premier hotel set to open in September in Battle Creek will receive a 5-star experience while some of its youngest team members will receive a hands-on education in creating that experience.
 
The DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Battle Creek is the first teaching hotel within the Southwest Michigan region, says Heather Ignash, Economic Development Specialist with Battle Creek Unlimited (BCU). She says there’s another one in Frankenmuth that has a very specific program with a very specific partner.
 
Heather Ignash, Economic Development Specialist with Battle Creek Unlimited (BCU)“The DoubleTree has many different partners and organizations involved,” Ignash says, including the Burma Center, VOCES, the Calhoun Area Career Center, and Kellogg Community College.
 
In addition to the hotel's 247 guest rooms, there is also an on-site classroom for students interested in pursuing careers in the hospitality industry. These students could be attending high school or college as well as adults looking to make a career switch.
 
“We really wanted to make sure it is student-driven and student-focused so that folks could come in and this could be an asset for them,” Ignash says. “We have a Human Resources specialist who is dedicated to guiding students and employees on these pathways. This is the result of a lot of deliberate work from many different partners.”
 
These partners coalesce through the SUITE (Supporting Upward Innovation and Training for Excellence in Hospitality) collaboration which began in October 2023.
 
At the conclusion of school enrollment for the 2024-25 school year between 50 and 60 students are expected to participate in the DoubleTree’s teaching component, says Tim Staffen, Assistant Superintendent of Career and Technical Education for the Calhoun Intermediate School District.
 
However, these numbers will depend on the capacity of 6 PM Hospitality, a Zeeland-based hospitality company that will manage the day-to-day operation of the DoubleTree which is owned by BCU.
 
A fair number of these students are likely to come from the Calhoun Area Career Center (CACC) which operates a Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program and has a dual-enrollment agreement with KCC. The CACC is an extension of the high school experience for students who feed into the school from their home schools within Calhoun County.
 
“In addition to earning another credential, these students have to go out and do work-based learning,” Staffen says. “Through the partnership, we have with KCC, students in my program have the opportunity to be paired with a co-op or a paid or unpaid internship or apprenticeship where they work with professionals within the field to learn their craft and get real-world experiences.”
 
KCC currently offers a Hotel Management with Executive Housekeeper course which includes a certification. The school has a long-term goal to offer students the opportunity to earn hospitality-focused Associate and Bachelor’s from KCC, which eliminates the need to transfer to a four-year institution, says Darcy Henning, who is on the faculty of KCC’s Office Information Technology department and among the newest members of the SUITE collaboration.
 
Her role with KCC includes teaching the school’s Hospitality classes.
 
“I think one of the draws in hospitality is that you can learn about lodging, management, food, event planning, and tourism and can go in a lot of different directions that are all related," Henning says.
 
Students will have the opportunity to get real-life experience through the DoubleTree property is unique, Staffen says, in that it involves ad hoc business and industry leaders coming together to make it happen.
 
Attendees gather at an opening event at the new DoubleTree by Hilton in Battle Creek.“What you’re seeing here is what happens when you see the intersection between business and industry, education and economic development corporations in the community,” he says. It takes collaborations between those elements to a higher level. This is way beyond community service. It’s building something together for a common purpose which in the end will benefit students and the local economy.”
 
Representatives with organizations that make up SUITE Collaborative, which is facilitated by Ignash, developed the programming together and supported each other through it, she says.
 
“I credit Tim with having a hotel with the classroom in it and when we asked 6 PM, they said, ‘Yes, it’s possible.'”
 
“This is creating that pipeline to get students interested in this industry and keeping them in it,” Staffen says. “They’re exposed to seeing what the front side of a restaurant is so they see other aspects and then they just kind of catch a bug and want to do more than just cook.”
 
In discussions with students in the Battle Creek Public Schools, Ignash says they were “really excited by the many different avenues available to them in the hospitality industry. It’s one of those careers people really, really love because no day is exactly the same.”
 
Putting the premier in a unique property
 
The DoubleTree property encompasses 109,000 square feet in the heart of the city’s downtown. It has all of the amenities one would expect to find at an upscale hotel including a pool and fitness center. What sets it apart, Ignash says, is dedicated green space that will be available for use by the community, guests, and organizers of events.
 
“There’s an additional 20,000-square-foot atrium space which will feature a gallery showcasing the work of local artists, including local high school students,” she says. “The intention is to swap that artwork out on a regular basis. We want to make sure it celebrates Battle Creek and the community.”
 
The hotel also will have a market featuring products made by local entrepreneurs such as Café Rica and J.J.’s Sweet Treats, and a restaurant called Alloy that will be owned and operated by 6 PM.
 
BCU owns the hotel which showcases and amplifies the city, Ignash says.
 
“We’re focusing on what makes the hotel unique as well as the local community asset portion of that,” she says.
 
The space housing the DoubleTree is the former location of the McCamly Plaza Hotel which had been proven functionally obsolete, according to information on BCU’s website.
 
“Rather than allow the property to further deteriorate in its vacant state, BCU and several community and state partners collaboratively rallied together to create a vibrant community asset. BCU established a for-profit entity called 50 Capital Ave. Development Corp. (50 CADC) and took ownership of the hotel in November 2020 after resolving a legal dispute with its former owners.”
 
BCU stepped in as a developer to renovate and upgrade the hotel for the benefit of the community. This marked a strategic shift for BCU as their first foray into the role of a private developer.  With the collaborative efforts of these community partners, the hotel has become a truly one-of-a-kind experience with an elaborate training initiative in the SUITE Collaborative, promotion of downtown businesses, local sustainability efforts, and community involvement.
 
Attendees gather at an opening event at the new DoubleTree by Hilton in Battle Creek.Thirteen organizations contributed over $50 million to make the project possible including Battle Creek Unlimited, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 50 Capital Ave Development Corporation, The City of Battle Creek, The State of Michigan, Calhoun County, The Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), The Miller Foundation, Calhoun County Visitor’s Bureau, Battle Creek Downtown Development Authority (BCDDA), Kellogg’s 25-Year Employees’ Fund, Bronson Battle Creek Hospital Community Partners, and the Consumer’s Energy Foundation.
 
“Creating a community asset requires more than just renovating a building — it demands a collaborative effort. We appreciate our partners and the community for their contributions to this project, which will positively impact Battle Creek for years to come,” says Joe Sobieralski, President and CEO of BCU.
 
“I just really want people to know that something like the SUITE Collaborative is what happens when you come together and are truly supportive,” Ignash says. “We all believe in the mission and that great things can happen.”