GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT SUCCESSES
Michigan’s legacy is one born of manufacturing and R&D. We’re always at the forefront of how the world does business, with our roots set in a sustainable and innovative foundation to support businesses building the tech of tomorrow.
Michigan Drives Mobility
Our momentum comes from our long position as a centerpiece of the automotive industry, a position we’re leveraging to change mobility with new technology and energy sources. Ford started 2023 swinging with an announcement that it will invest more than $2 billion to construct an EV battery manufacturing facility in Marshall. BlueOval Battery Park Michigan will manufacture batteries used in several of the company’s key electric vehicles (announced Feb. 13, 2023).
LG Energy Solution (LGES) struck a deal to supply battery cells and modules from their West Michigan facility for use in Toyota Motor North America’s EVs. LGES will invest $3 billion in its facility to establish new production lines exclusively for Toyota (announced Oct. 16, 2023). Toyota Motor North America also announced that it will add a battery testing facility at its R&D headquarters campus in York Township. This project is expected to generate a total capital investment of up to $47.7 million (announced June 8, 2023).
Continuing EV development in the state is Eaton, an intelligent power management company, that is expanding in Marshall, Southfield, and Canton Township. The projects will generate more than$20 million in capital investment, offer a mixture of new and legacy employees 100 new high-wage jobs and create a new lab for developing EV components (announced June 22, 2023).
Building on its Michigan presence, General Motors announced it will invest nearly $800 million in its Flint and Bay City plants, strengthening the automaker’s Michigan portfolio for full-size truck and SUV business and retaining jobs across the two locations (announced Jan. 20, 2023). This expansion follows the company’s 2022 investment of $7 billion, which includes plans to convert its Orion Township plant to produce EV pickups. This year, a Transportation Economic Development Fund grant will follow through on Michigan’s promise to improve the surrounding infrastructure, helping rebuild three roads used by residents and product suppliers and distributors (announced Aug. 8, 2023).
Just one year after Michigan-based Our Next Energy (ONE) announced a $1.6 billion investment to build its first-ever battery manufacturing campus in Van Buren Township, the cutting-edge battery maker has begun its pilot production of battery cells (announced Oct. 5, 2022; celebrated Nov. 1, 2023).
The Power Behind Change
As the vanguard of the clean energy revolution, we’re working to help businesses find the power source that works for them and the environment. Nel Hydrogen announced investment to build an automated gigafactory in Plymouth Charter Township has already received the 2024 Business Facilities’ Impact Award in the hydrogen energy category (announced May 3, 2023; awarded Jan. 17, 2024).
Michigan also became a core member of the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen (MachH2), which was awarded up to $1 billion by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop regional supply chains for hydrogen in trucks and heavy-duty vehicles. One of the first projects for MachH2 is the Hydrogen Truck Stop of the Future, which will serve traffic crossing the Gordie Howe International Bridge (announced Oct. 13, 2023).
Alternative fuels for fleets is also being tackled. The Mobility Charging Hub, supported by project partners Daimler Truck North America and DTE Energy. The Detroit metro-based hub will help companies accelerate the deployment of commercial EVs at scale and modernize the truck stop experience (announced June 29, 2023).
Manufacturing a Better Future
At the center of all these technological innovations are semiconductors, whose supply chains have undergone an upheaval in recent years. Michigan is working to reshore much of their manufacturing, and Michigan-born Calumet Electronics is playing a large part. The company is constructing a U.S. first-of-its-kind 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility for organic substrate manufacturing, critical to the semiconductor ecosystem, at its campus in Calumet (announced Oct. 24, 2023).
Global advanced materials manufacturer Mersen USA is also expanding its Michigan facilities in Bay City and Greenville to increase capacity for semiconductor and silicon chip materials manufacturing by constructing new buildings, rehabilitating and expanding existing facilities and upgrading machinery (announced June 29, 2023).
Silbond Corporation, another international contributor to the fabrication of semiconductors, is expanding its operations in Fairfield Township. The project is expected to generate a total capital spending of $7.9 million and build on the state’s position as a global leader in the semiconductor supply chain (announced Nov. 16, 2023).
Among the companies that have continually supported Michigan’s place as an R&D and talent attraction powerhouse, Whirlpool Corporation celebrated the ribbon cutting of the company’s new state-of-the-art technical center in St. Joseph. The facility will house 500 full-time technicians, engineers, designers, and adjacent roles (announced June 22, 2021; celebrated Aug. 18, 2023).
Even our windows are innovative. LuxWall will establish two manufacturing facilities in Ypsilanti to produce the company’s innovative energyefficient windows, which are very thin yet have superior insulation to conventional building glass which could help cut global energy consumption (announced July 25, 2023).