Michigan OKs $11M in grants for three manufacturing firms building new headquarters
Posted By: The Detroit News on April 5, 2025. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
A Michigan economic development board on Tuesday approved a combined $11.1 million in grants for three projects that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and others said will strengthen the state’s manufacturing and engineering base and create about 800 jobs.
The Michigan Strategic Fund Board approved a $7.5 million grant to American Rheinmetall, a combat vehicle vehicle and parts maker, for a new headquarters facility in Auburn Hills; a $2 million grant for Astemo Americas to help the auto supplier construct a new regional headquarters in Wixom; and $1.6 million for the advanced manufacturing company JR Automation, which is building a global headquarters in Ottawa County.
Whitmer had recently announced the trio of projects amid a trip to Japan and Germany. She visited Rheinmetall’s proving grounds in Germany, and in Japan, she held meetings with leaders from Astemo and JR Automation, which has Michigan roots but was purchased by Japanese conglomerate Hitachi several years ago.
Economic development officials said the grants were needed to compete with proposals from other states. Officials argue that courting the Rheinmetall and JR Automation projects in particular can help the state further diversify its manufacturing base beyond autos.
American Rheinmetall plans an approximately $32 million, 168,000-square-foot headquarters facility in Auburn Hills as its business has grown in the last year or so, including from U.S. Department of Defense contracts. That new facility will consolidate existing operations in Troy and Sterling Heights.
The company says between the new facility and staffing up at facilities in Lapeer, Lansing and Plymouth, it expects to hire at least 450 people making between $25 and $56 per hour. About 150 will be engineering or similar roles.
“This project helps position us as really a true leader in the national defense sector,” said Justin Robinson, an executive vice president for economic development with the Detroit Regional Partnership, adding it could help employ Michigan engineers and others who may be impacted by cutbacks in the auto industry.
JR Automation plans a $73 million, 300,000-square-foot global headquarters in Zeeland, in Ottawa County, where it says it’ll create at least 150 new jobs, with around a third of those engineering-type roles. The project will consolidate several other west Michigan facilities into one. The company offers custom automation solutions that include robots and software for industries including automotive, aerospace, and food and beverage.
Officials said Michigan was competing with South Carolina to land the project and said the $1.6 million grant was needed to make up for a “cost disadvantage ” of locating in Michigan. Zeeland property tax breaks and state education tax abatements are also pledged.
The Astemo Americas project involves erecting a new $95 million, 185,000-square-foot regional headquarters in Oakland County’s Wixom, a project that will also include building test tracks. It will put the company’s existing regional tech center, in Farmington Hills, and its current regional headquarters, in Kentucky, under one roof.
The project is expected to create 200 jobs, with about 150 of those in engineering, research and development roles paying between $90,000 to $200,000, an executive said. The company makes electric powertrains, chassis systems and autonomous driving technology.
Economic development officials said the $2 million infusion was needed to win a competition with Columbus, Ohio, which was also pitching a location for the project due in part to the company’s close ties with Honda Motor Co., which has a large presence in that state. Other perks include Wixom property tax abatements and state education tax breaks for the firm.
Other projects approved by the board Tuesday included bond financing assistance for a NextEra Energy project. The company wants to develop a 15,000-square-foot renewable natural gas facility in New Boston that would pull landfill gas from a nearby Republic Services facility, turning that into natural gas to be injected into a pipeline.
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