There Are Great Things Happening in Michigan.

There Are Great Things Happening in Michigan. SM

GET THE UPPER HAND IN MICHIGAN There are great things happening in Michigan. Kalamazoo was named one of the nation s Turnaround Cities. The 21st Century Investment Fund is making more capital available for entrepreneurial ventures. Michigan State University was recently awarded $50 million in federal funds for ethanol research. Results of a new study put a $6.5 billion dollar figure on the contribution of the state s Big Three research universities to the gross state product. Detroit is enjoying a rebirth of its downtown highlighted by the renaissance of the riverfront, marked by the first International River Days Festival celebration held June 22 29. city and state rankings, AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS New 21st Century Investment Fund Commitment Brings Total to $55 Million Up to $10 million in new investment is being channeled through the Michigan 21st Century Investment Fund to New York-based Relativity Fund LP, a private equity firm. The allocation is part of up to $114 million appropriated by the Michigan Legislature for private equity, venture capital and mezzanine capital investments as part of the state s 21st Century Jobs Fund initiative. Since January, the 21st Century Investment Fund has made up to $55 million in new investments to four venture capital and two private equity funds, significantly increasing the amount of capital available to Michigan entrepreneurs and growing companies. That includes another recent announcement of up to $10 million in new investment to Quad Partners, a private equity firm. The firm will open an office in Southeast Michigan and actively seek Michigan companies for investment. Kalamazoo One of Ten U.S. Turnaround Cities; Arts Good for City s Bottom Line There is good news for Kalamazoo in a couple of recent national studies. The nonprofit arts and culture industry generates at least $68.7 million in annual economic activity in Kalamazoo County including 2,174 full-time equivalent jobs, $47.8 million in resident household income, $2 million in local government tax revenues and $3.4 million in state government tax revenues according to a study conducted by Americans for the Arts using data from 49 arts organizations. A recent story in Urban Land magazine featuring Downtown Turnarounds in 10 cities around the nation included Brooklyn, Charleston, Memphis, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Kalamazoo. MSU Gets $50 Million for Ethanol Research U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced that Michigan State and other universities will share $375 million in federal funding to develop new bioenergy centers for cellulosic ethanol and biomass plant research. MSU and the University of Wisconsin at Madison will receive $125 million of that amount over five years to establish the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. MSU, whose share of the grant will be $50 million, expects to hire faculty and student researchers for its research farms across the state and campus labs, creating 100 jobs. Michigan s Research Universities Add $6.5 Billion to Gross State Product A study of Michigan s Big Three research universities, Michigan State, Wayne State and University of Michigan, reports that they accounted for two percent of all economic activity in the state last year. The Anderson Economic Group s preliminary report on the University Research Corridor puts their annual contribution to the gross state product at $6.5 billion. SM

city and state rankings, AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS University of Michigan #3 in Nation for Small Tech The University of Michigan (UM) was ranked the nation s third best higher education institution for micro- and nano-technology in the annual Small Times magazine survey. The publication noted UM s multi-disciplinary research centers dedicated to small tech, educational programs and large R&D funding as reasons contributing to its high ranking. Investment in Detroit Continues The industrial buildings and cement silos are gone and in their place are the Atwater and Watermark condominium projects under development, a 31-acre Tri-Centennial State Park and Marina and newly opened portions of the RiverWalk. A little further west, work has begun on the Rosa Parks Transit Center. The 2.4-acre site, bounded by Michigan and Cass avenues and Time Square, will become a 24-hour multi-modal transfer station connecting DDOT, SMART and Transit Windsor Tunnel buses as well as the Detroit People Mover. At the corner of Woodward and 8 Mile next to the Michigan State Fairgrounds, a $90- million mall, the Shoppes at Gateway Park, is in the planning stages. If constructed, the mall will be the city s biggest retail development in 40 years. Michigan Tourism Web Site #1 Again According to Hitwise, an international company which tracks traffic to major Web sites, the travel/tourism pages of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation SM (MEDC) Web site at michigan.org received the most traffic of any state tourism site again in June the third consecutive month it has earned the #1 distinction. Of the 50 state tourism Web sites, the Travel Michigan site attracted 12.14 percent of all visitors. Michigan.org was the only website of its kind to achieve a double-digit percentage of the traffic, with the next closest state tourism site attracting 5.43 percent. Web surfers turned to the site 5.8 million times through June, up from 4.8 million during the same months of 2006. General Motors is building a new 450,000 squarefoot engine and transmission test center in Pontiac, and will consolidate 1,200 jobs to the site from Warren, Romulus and Ypsilanti. The move will concentrate all of GM s engine, transmission and hybrid-vehicle development in Oakland County. Advanced Photonix announced completion of its plant for R&D and manufacturing of optoelectronic semiconductors. The new, 5,000 square-foot facility consolidates the company s microfabrication operations, including its California and Wisconsin clean rooms, to one centralized location in Ann Arbor at its wholly owned subsidiary, Picometrix, which was acquired by API in 2005. Incentives included a state tax credit valued at more than $1.1 million over 10 years approved by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and a city personal property tax abatement of as much as $94,000 over five years. Advanced Photonix supplies optoelectronic semiconductor components and subsystems and terahertz instrumentation to a global customer base. based technologies in Michigan. The award was approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund and will next be considered for final approval by the state Administrative Board. Pfizer announced in January that it would close several of its facilities throughout the state as a cost-cutting measure. Establishment of an institute in Holland to advance the bioeconomy, defined as an economy where the basic building blocks for industry and the raw materials for energy are derived from plant/ crop (renewable) sources, is part of a concerted effort spearheaded by the MEDC and affected communities to reutilize those facilities and motivate Pfizer scientists to continue working and living in Michigan. A $3.4 million grant from the 21st Century Jobs Fund will transform a former Pfizer research facility in Holland into a bioeconomy research center that will support life science

A $2 million grant to Thomas Township in Saginaw County will be used to make public infrastructure improvements needed for Hemlock Semiconductor s (HSC) phase II expansion of its polycrystalline silicon manufacturing operations. The project is expected to involve $1.2 billion in capital investment and 375 new jobs. The grant is an addition to a $1,010,000 grant previously announced by the MEDC, and is being made available with funds provided by the federal Community Development Block Grant program. In March, the company announced it would invest in the new Michigan plant in part as a result of a state tax credit supported by the MEDC. HSC is the world s leading producer of polycrystalline silicon, a component of photovoltaic cells used to produce solar energy and various electronic devices for the semiconductor industry, and currently has 441 employees in Michigan. Hitachi Automotive Products (USA) Inc.: The designer and manufacturer of automotive components and systems will expand its Farmington Hills technical center. The project is expected to create 205 new jobs in the community, including 100 directly by the company. A state tax credit valued at $1.3 million over seven years convinced the company to invest in Michigan over a competing site in Kentucky. The city of Farmington Hills has approved a six-year abatement worth $859,000 to support the expansion. LMS North America: The Belgium-based engineering innovation partner for companies in the automotive, aerospace and other advanced manufacturing industries will invest $600,000 to expand in Troy. The project is expected to create 106 new jobs, 50 of which will be through LMS. A state tax credit valued at $686,000 over seven years allowed LMS to expand their operations in Michigan. In addition, the MEDC will provide up to $25,000 in Economic Development Job Training funding to assist in training new and current employees. The city of Troy has proposed a 12-year abatement worth $30,697 to support the expansion. Media Genesis Inc.: The provider of Web site development, design, maintenance and hosting will invest $3.7 million to relocate from Madison Heights into a larger facility in Royal Oak. The project is expected to create 288 new jobs, including 155 directly by the company. A state tax credit valued at $1.3 million over seven years helped Michigan win the expansion over a competing site in Florida. To support the project, the city of Royal Oak has reduced the established selling price of city-owned property adjacent to the project site by $45,742. The site would be suitable for a company parking lot. General Mills Operations Inc.: The wholly-owned subsidiary of General Mills Inc., will invest approximately $32 million to expand its Yoplait yogurt plant in Reed City. The project will create 52 new Michigan jobs, including 25 directly by the company. A state tax credit valued at $166,000 over seven years helped convince the company to invest in Michigan. To assist the expansion, the MEDC will make available $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for wastewater treatment plant improvements. Reed City has approved a 12-year abatement worth $5 million to support the project. Signa Group Inc., (d/b/a Whitehall Industries): The manufacturer of precision, machined and fabricated aluminum extrusions will invest $6.3 million to expand its Ludington and Pere Marquette Charter Township facilities in Mason County. The project will create 100 new jobs directly by the company and approximately 80 additional new jobs as a result of the company s investment. A state tax credit valued at more than $704,000 over seven years helped win the company s investment. The city of Ludington and Pere Marquette Township are considering tax abatements totaling about $413,000 over 12 years to support the project. Universal Properties LLC will utilize state and local tax capture valued at $1.4 million to defray the cost of demolition, lead and asbestos abatement and site preparation at the Universal Mall, making way for construction of 600,000 square-feet of new retail and commercial space featuring

multiple stores with individual entrances. The project includes the rehabilitation of a 100,000 square-foot anchor building and a 48,000 square-foot multiplex theater. The 752,000 squarefoot mall on the 56 acre-site at one of Warren s major crossroads opened in 1965. The project involving capital investment of more than $24.8 million is expected to create as many as 2,000 new jobs. State and local tax capture of $406,825 will be used by developers Founders RE LLC and Blue Tiger LLC for renovation and addition of 10,000 square-feet to a vacant and blighted 8,500 square-foot industrial building in downtown Grand Rapids to be occupied by Founders Brewing Company as a production facility and tasting room. This project replaces the planned construction of a four-story apartment building with parking and office space by developer Moch International and approved for state and local tax capture of $737,690 last June. The Founders Brewing project is expected to preserve 21 jobs and create 16 new jobs on capital investment of $4 million. As of June 20, $438,033 in Economic Development Job Training grants is being made available to upgrade the skills of 1,087 workers, including 356 new hires, employed by three companies in Lenawee, Oakland and Ottawa counties: GHSP in Grand Haven: $218,783 for 636 current employees and 56 new hires through the Northwest Ottawa Chamber Foundation; DENSO International America, Southfield: $125,000 for 250 new hires through Oakland Community College; and Wacker Chemical, Adrian: $94,250 for 95 current employees and 50 new hires through the Lenawee Chamber Foundation. Tax-exempt bond financing through the Private Activity Bond program totaling $5.4 million will support two plant expansions. Kaspari Investments LLC and Warren Screw Products Inc. will use a $3 million allocation to acquire land and a 140,825 square-foot manufacturing facility. Kaspari Investments will renovate the facility located at 13201 Stephens Road in Warren. The land and facility will be owned by Kaspari Investments and leased to Warren Screw Products, a manufacturer of tight tolerance screw-machined and broached products. Frank Street LLC and Motor City Wash Works Inc. will use a $2.4 million allocation to help finance the acquisition and rehabilitation of a 65,000 squarefoot industrial facility located at 48285 Frank Street in Wixom. The facility will be owned by Frank Street and operated by Motor City Wash Works, a manufacturer of automatic car wash equipment. A $100,000 federal Community Development Block Grant to Whitehall Township in Muskegon County is being used for an extension of the sanitary sewer system to accommodate expansion of Michigan Adhesive Manufacturing Inc. The township is contributing $180,000 to the project expected to create 10 new jobs and $500,000 in private investment by the company. Michigan Adhesive Manufacturing, founded in 1998, specializes in formulating and manufacturing highperformance, environmentally friendly adhesives, sealants and coatings for the general product assembly and specialty construction markets. A joint project between John Deere Wind Energy, Wolverine Power and the Harvest Wind Farm in Huron County is demonstrating the kind of positive economic impact that renewable energy projects can have on the economy and job creation in Michigan. A $90 million investment in the Harvest Wind Farm is expected to create up to 70 jobs, and Wolverine predicts it will produce enough electricity to power more than 15,000 homes. It is expected those steps will save Michigan citizens $4 billion on power generation over the next 20 years and set the state on the right course for sustainability and energy independence.

The Harvest Wind Farm project was supported with a state tax incentive package worth $6.5 million over 12 years. In addition, Harvest Wind Farm will receive approximately $5 million in sales tax exemptions through Michigan s manufacturing/industrial processing exemption. U.K.-based Gibbs Technologies Ltd. is setting up a business development office in Oakland County to help launch three companies to produce and market advanced amphibious vehicles in North America by 2009. The new business development center in Troy will start with a staff of 10. The company is considering locations for technical centers, sales offices and manufacturing plants in several states including Georgia, Virginia and Texas, as well as Michigan, the latter because of its wealth of technical talent. One company, Gibbs Amphibians, is expected to build a sports car that can operate on land and in the water, while Gibbs Sports Amphibians will develop a cross between an all-terrain vehicle and a personal watercraft like a Jet Ski. The third company, Gibbs Military Amphibians, will develop vehicles for the U.S. Department of Defense, the company said. The village of Capac in St. Clair County will use a $327,674 CDBG for road, water and sewer improvements to accommodate construction of a factory by auto supplier Keihin Manufacturing. The subsidiary of Japan-based Keihin Corporation will invest more than $22 million in construction, machinery and equipment for the plant expected to create 260 new jobs. The village of Capac will contribute $42,000 to the project in addition to $100,000 from the county public works department. A $30,000 CDBG grant will help Montcalm County finance assessment of its economic strengths, weaknesses and resources to formulate a sustainable five- to 10-year economic development plan. Boyne City will use a $20,000 CDBG to help finance a study through the Northern Lakes Economic Alliance to determine the feasibility of establishing a business incubator in the area. 1368-070705AH