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Kellogg 'delighted' with merger vote

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. -- Kellogg Co. says it will build a new $30-million corporate headquarters in Battle Creek now that voters have approved the merger of the city and suburban Battle Creek Township.

The cereal company last May threatened to pull its headquarters out of Battle Creek if the merger did not take place, citing fragmented government operations and a lack of unified planning between the city and township.

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City voters overwhelmingly approved the merger Tuesday by a vote of 9,524 to 816. It passed by a slimmer 6,857 to 3,805 vote in the township. The merger takes effect Jan. 1.

Kellogg Chairman William LaMothe called the decision 'a victory for the future of Battle Creek' and said Wednesday the company hopes to break ground for its new corporate headquarters in the city early next year.

'We are delighted by this vote,' LaMothe said. 'As a result, we will keep our headquarters here and ... we think the most logical place for this is downtown Battle Creek.'

Kellogg was founded in Battle Creek -- the nation's 'Cereal City' - in 1906 and is the area's largest employer.

If the merger had failed and the company relocated its headquarters elsewhere, it would have cost the area 700 white-collar jobs and a $28 million payroll. In all, Kellogg employs 5,000 people in the Battle Creek area, which has an unemployment rate of about 16 percent.

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LaMothe said the company plans to build the new headquarters on a seven-acre site it already owns. The land currently is being leased to the city for a parking lot.

The merger will greatly enlarge the city's population. Battle Creek currently has 36,000 people; the township has 21,000.

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