Farmers Group is investing $84.4 million to expand its Caledonia Township facilities and create 1,600 new jobs.
The investment includes the construction of a 175,000-square-foot print and distribution center and the construction of a 100,000-square-foot call center and training facility.
The training facility is an expansion of the University of Farmers Grand Rapids and will provide training for an estimated 5,000 employees and company agents a year.
“This will provide a cross section of jobs,” says Michael Bigelow, vice president of Business Integration for Farmers Group. Farmers Group is an insurance management services provider.
The company will add professional as well as clerical jobs to its 1,800 person staff. The firm will create the 1,600 new jobs over the next five years.
Bigelow says expanding an existing site is less expensive than moving operations out-of-state, but says the state’s workforce also weighed on the company’s decision to stay in Michigan.
“The work ethic of people in Western Michigan is outstanding,” he says.
Farmers Group received a state tax credit valued at $62.5 million for the expansion as well as an employee training grant valued at $335,000.
Both facilities will be completed by the spring of 2011.
Source: Chelsea Nimiac, DP Company
Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains and can be reached here.
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