The Charlevoix Cement Plant sits on the northern shoreline of Lake Michigan. One of the most established operations in the St Marys Cement network, the plant draws on an on-site limestone quarry with reserves that extend well past the year 2100. Cement produced here travels by barge across Lake Michigan to terminals in Wisconsin, Chicago, and western Michigan. It is a production facility built for the long term, in a community it has been part of for decades.
The plant opened in 1967 and became part of the St Marys Cement network in 2005. Beginning that year, the company invested in pollution controls to reduce noise and air emissions, and partnered with Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources on conservation efforts including fish stocking and bald eagle habitat on the plant’s site.
In 2014, St Marys Cement launched a major modernization program at Charlevoix. The plant received a new raw mill, preheater tower, modified kiln, new cooler, and new cement finish mill. Capacity expanded from 1.4 million to 2.1 million tonnes annually. The plant now operates with a dry preheater and precalciner kiln technology. The on-site quarry holds reserves sufficient to sustain production well into the next century.
The Charlevoix plant holds ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), and ISO 45001 (Occupational Health and Safety) certifications, operating under an integrated management system that covers quality, environment, and worker safety as a single framework.
Plant-specific Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) are published here, providing verified, third-party assessed life cycle data on our cement products from raw material extraction through manufacturing. As the plant’s alternative fuels program advances, these documents will continue to reflect that progress.
The town of Charlevoix has a permanent population of approximately 2,500 people. The plant’s presence here, through employment, conservation partnerships, and community investment, has shaped the area for nearly six decades.
Tenure runs in families here. One employee’s grandfather once operated heavy equipment in the same quarry she now designs projects for, and her son has since joined the plant as well, three generations tied to the same operation. Across Charlevoix, plant work has a way of staying in families, passed down the way the land and the community itself have been.
Employees participate in tree-planting and conservation efforts that protect the shoreline and natural environment around the plant. The team maintains open communication with neighbours and works through established channels to address concerns about noise, emissions, and plant operations.
The safety of people in and around this plant shapes how the plant plans projects, responds to community concerns about noise and emissions, and communicates proactively with neighbouring residents. This is Open Dialogue in practice, a consistent pattern of behaviour maintained across decades.
Charlevoix leads the St Marys Cement network on alternative fuels. Today, approximately 40 percent of the plant’s energy comes from alternative sources rather than coal or petroleum coke. These are non-recyclable industrial byproducts that would otherwise go to landfill, recovered and processed through regulated co-processing under strict environmental controls.
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