The family that has gained a great deal of wealth by running a iron company in northern Michigan maintains its charitable commitment to the community in which it has grown.

"East Jordan Iron Works, named for a small village at the bottom of the west arm of Lake Charlevoix in northern Michigan, has outgrown its name but not its hometown. Nor its tradition as a family-owned business that has consistently turned down all feelers and offers to sell as it has grown a global footprint.

"The company was founded in 1883 by William Malpass and his father-in-law, Richard Round, to make castings for machine parts, ships, agriculture and railroads, with a focus on companies involved in the lumber boom that was then supplying white pine to much of the U.S.

"The company still runs two 10-hour shifts a day at its foundry on the eastern shore of the lake, in the heart of the small city. The foundry melts 40-50 tons of iron an hour to reshape into finished products, most of it recycled, some of that scrap hauled daily from auto plants in Southeast Michigan and the rest from large scrap dealers around the state."--Tom Henderson, the Bridge