The Bay Mills Indian Community has secured $50,000 in state funding to begin planning a mass timber long-term care facility in Brimley, Michigan — becoming the only Upper Peninsula project selected in the inaugural cohort of Michigan’s new Mass Timber Catalyst Program. The award positions the federally recognized Ojibwe tribal nation at the leading edge of a construction movement that is quietly reshaping how communities across the Great Lakes region think about wood, sustainability, and long-term care infrastructure.
The grant was announced March 24, 2026, by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Michigan State University, which jointly administer the program. Bay Mills joins nine Lower Peninsula projects in sharing $400,000 of state funding allocated to accelerate mass timber adoption across Michigan.
Bay Mills Indian Community Awarded $50,000 Mass Timber Grant
The Bay Mills Indian Community is one of Michigan’s oldest Ojibwe nations, with roots along Whitefish Bay and the shores of Lake Superior near Sault Ste. Marie. Established as a reservation by Act of Congress on June 19, 1860, the community is headquartered in Brimley on Waiska Bay in the Upper Peninsula. Like many tribal communities, Bay Mills faces the compounding challenge of serving an aging population with limited access to specialized care infrastructure in a rural region.
The $50,000 grant will fund the early planning and design phases of a mass timber long-term care facility — a project that fuses community health priorities with an emerging building technology that champions local wood products. The Bay Mills project was one of six Upper Peninsula applications reviewed; only one was selected for this supplemental UP funding round.
Patrick Mohney, Senior Lands Program Manager with the DNR’s Office of Public Lands, noted the significance of the regional response:
“We received six applicants for a number of different projects in the Upper Peninsula. This shows that interest in this building technique is growing.” — Patrick Mohney, Senior Lands Program Manager, Michigan DNR Office of Public Lands
What Is the Michigan Mass Timber Catalyst Program?
The Michigan Mass Timber Catalyst Program was launched in October 2025 and is funded through a one-time State General Fund appropriation under Public Act 121 of 2024. Its mandate is specific: accelerate early adoption of mass timber in Michigan by providing both financial grants and hands-on technical assistance to project teams during the planning and design phase — the point where most mass timber projects stall due to unfamiliarity with the material.
Awards range from $25,000 to $60,000 in the current cohort, and recipients gain access to a year of technical support through a cohort led by MassTimber@MSU and WoodWorks. Additional program partners include the Michigan Green Building Collaborative, the Michigan Bureau of Construction Codes, the Michigan Bureau of Fire Services, and InvestUP.
The program is open to a wide range of project types — commercial, industrial, institutional, multi-family residential — and to a diverse set of applicants including property owners, architects, developers, local governments, and nonprofits. The Bay Mills Indian Community’s long-term care facility fits squarely within the institutional category.
Alongside Bay Mills, the first cohort includes nine other projects across the Lower Peninsula: Genesis in Highland Park ($60,000), CoHab House in Lansing ($60,000), Daniels and Zermack Architects in Harrison Township ($45,000), the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute in Adrian ($45,000), The Hive Building B in Detroit ($40,000), Bella Vita Condos in Traverse City ($25,000), the Kent County Administration Building in Grand Rapids ($25,000), MSU Research Foundation in East Lansing ($25,000), and a mixed-use building in Mt. Pleasant ($25,000).
Why Mass Timber for a Tribal Long-Term Care Facility?
Mass timber — engineered wood products like cross-laminated timber (CLT) and nail-laminated timber (NLT) — is increasingly chosen for institutional and care facility projects because of its structural performance, aesthetic warmth, and environmental credentials. The material is engineered for strength and fire resistance, and several studies have linked biophilic wood environments to improved outcomes for elderly residents in care settings.
For a tribal community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, mass timber also carries an economic argument: the region’s forests are a foundational resource, and local wood procurement creates supply chain alignment that concrete or steel cannot. Indigenous-led mass timber projects have precedent elsewhere in North America, including institutional buildings designed to reflect cultural connections to the forest.
Michigan’s Growing Mass Timber Momentum
The Bay Mills grant arrives as Michigan asserts itself as a regional leader in mass timber construction. Sandra Lupien, Director of MassTimber@MSU, described the state’s trajectory clearly:
“With more than 65 mass timber projects complete, in development or under construction in the state, Michigan is becoming a leader in mass timber adoption in the eastern United States.” — Sandra Lupien, Director, MassTimber@MSU, Michigan State University
That number is part of a broader North American mass timber wave that has produced approximately 2,600 completed, in-design, or under-construction mass timber buildings nationally. Michigan’s momentum predates the Catalyst Program — the state already hosts notable projects like the STEM Teaching and Learning building on the Michigan State University campus and the Michigan DNR’s own customer service center in Newberry, which opened in December 2024 using mass timber as a primary structural element.
The Catalyst Program’s broader significance lies in what it signals for rural and underserved communities. By extending a supplemental Upper Peninsula round specifically to attract projects like Bay Mills, the state acknowledged a geographic gap in its first cohort and moved deliberately to close it. That the sole UP recipient is a tribal nation planning a care facility — rather than a commercial developer or municipality — says something about where demand is growing.
Mass timber construction is gaining traction across a range of project types, from industrial facilities to public buildings. The Bay Mills project adds another category to that list: Indigenous community health infrastructure in a rural Great Lakes setting.
With planning and design now funded, Bay Mills will work through the technical feasibility process alongside its cohort peers, with the aim of eventually delivering a care facility that serves elders and community members in a building that reflects both modern construction technology and the deep relationship between the Ojibwe people and the northern Michigan forest.
