Oakland County’s business development teams closed 12 deals that brought a total of $68 million in investment to the area, according to a recent government report.
And continuing with Executive L. Brooks Patterson’s push for international relations, the deals included more than $50 million in foreign direct investment from six overseas companies.
Among the largest investments in the past month is Germany-based engineering firm Durr Systems, Inc., which has pledged to invest $40 million into a former DTE Energy call center in Southfield that will consolidate the company’s operations in Auburn Hills, Plymouth and Wixom under one roof.
Durr’s move to the building, which is located on Northwestern Highway, will create 320 jobs and retain 180. About $21 million will be put towards renovations of the facility and $19 million will go towards expansion.
The January deals add to 30 others made last year that accounted for nearly 2,000 jobs created and $171 million in foreign direct investment, which was more than a quarter of the $639 million in total business investment in 2014, county officials said.
The business development team has trips planned to Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan and Taiwan in 2015. The team will also be attending the 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington, D.C., in March and will partner with the Michigan Economic Development Corp., Patterson said. Further, Deputy County Executive Matthew Gibb will be joining Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on a trade mission to China in August.
“We’ve worked hard to develop our international reputation with over 30 trade missions between us and Automation Alley,” Patterson stated.
“Trip by trip, we’re building a reputation as an attractive location for foreign investment.”
More than 1,000 international firms from 38 countries have business locations in Oakland County.
