Two West Michigan manufacturers create 50 new jobs, retain 350 with $21.2M investment

Two West Michigan manufacturers will invest some $21.2 million in capital improvements to retain 350 jobs and create an additional 50 positions. The news came this week after the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) board approved tax credits for Consolidated Resource Imaging, LLC (CRI) and Steelcase, Inc.

CRI plans to invest some $3 million to relocate its 11 employees from Allendale to an undisclosed location in Walker. Most of the investment will be in computers, technical and research equipment for the aerospace systems manufacturer.

CRI will create 50 new jobs with an average weekly wage of $1,099, including healthcare benefits.

Between MEGA's High-Tech Tax Credit program and 12-year tax abatement from the city of Walker, CRI's tax incentive will be $873,915.

Steelcase received approval for a Retention MEGA of $4.7 million over eight years for keeping jobs tied to significant new investment.

That investment will be the proposed $18.2 million renovation of the company headquarters at 44th and Kalamazoo to equip and expand the facility to handle the relocation of 350 Steelcase employees from the Corporate Development Center in Gaines Twp.

"Steelcase is obviously a pillar of our West Michigan economy and this investment shows their commitment to West Michigan," says George Bosnjak, Right Place Inc.'s business development manager. Right Place, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and others worked with Steelcase and CRI, helping them navigate the tax incentives, choose a new work site and relocate employees efficiently.

"CRI does very technical work that benefits other companies nationally, if not globally," Bosnjak says." It's the kind of high-tech company many people wouldn't expect to find in West Michigan and another example of the kind of technology and expertise that's available here."

To receive the MEGA incentives for creating or retaining jobs, companies must prove they've created or retained a specified number of jobs for each year of the incentive period.
    
Source: George Bosnjak, Right Place, Inc.

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].