Three recent expansions by West Michigan manufacturers will total more than $70 million in investment and create 134 total new jobs, officials announced today.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer along with state and local economic development officials on Thursday announced the new expansion projects in West Michigan, along with a fourth project in Bay County.
The three West Michigan projects, located throughout metro Grand Rapids, involve food processing, vinyl film manufacturing and medical devices and received a total of $698,000 in state performance-based grant funding.
Keep up with all things West Michigan business. Sign up for our free newsletters today.
“Michigan’s economic momentum is surging as seen by today’s announcement of these four Michigan companies’ continued growth and the jobs they are creating as a result of their ongoing successes,” Matt McCauley, senior vice president of regional development at the Michigan Economic Development Co., said in a statement.
Food processing
South of Grand Rapids, Wyoming-based Schreiber Foods Inc. will invest more than $59.3 million to update its existing building at 5252 Clay Ave. SW. The project is aimed at accommodating growth and increased demand from customers, particularly for the company’s beverage products.
Schreiber Foods is a global dairy processor that produces cream cheese, natural cheese, processed cheese, beverages and yogurt.
The company plans to add 32 new jobs and was backed by a $198,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant from the state.
“We’re excited to grow our beverage plant … and bring new jobs to the community. This investment sets us up to continue being an essential ingredient in our customers’ success,” Jim Mackey, global tax manager at Schreiber Foods, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to build on our strong relationship with the city of Wyoming and the state of Michigan.”
Vinyl adhesives
North of Grand Rapids, a $6.9 million expansion project from Celia Corp., doing business as General Formulations, will enable the company to replace aging equipment and boost capacity for its adhesive vinyl film manufacturing.
The company plans to add 52 new jobs in Sparta with support from a $300,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant. The average wage for the new positions will be $26.39 per hour plus benefits.
General Formulations employs 340 people in Michigan at its corporate headquarters, which is located at 309 S. Union Ave. in Sparta. The company has sales offices across the U.S. and a location in Germany.
General Formulations in 2014 had invested more than $4.1 million for an expansion project that enabled the company to add equipment as well as 50 new jobs. At the time, company officials said they were working on an agreement to purchase adjacent vacant land if needed for future expansion.
Michigan was chosen for the latest expansion over existing facilities in California or Germany, or a new potential location in Las Vegas, according to state officials.
“General Formulations is excited to continue to invest in additional resources that will help grow the company and help us serve our customers,” Brad Buettner, CFO of Celia Corp., said in a statement. “We expect that this investment will generate up to $20 million in additional revenue and support many new quality jobs for our community.”
Med devices
Packaging Compliance Labs LLC, a medical device packaging and testing company, also announced an expansion that is expected to total $4.5 million as the company adds equipment and staff at its Cascade Charter Township and Kentwood locations.
Packaging Compliance Labs was established in 2014 and provides packaging engineering, packaging validation testing and contract packing services to customers around the world.
The company’s headquarters is located at 4334 Brockton Drive SE, Suite E, in Kentwood. The Cascade location is at 3498 Kraft Ave. SE.
With the expansion, the company also expects to invest in specialized training for new testing and engineering methods.
The project will add 50 new jobs and is backed by a $200,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant.
“PCL is thrilled to continue our investment in West Michigan through talent development, facilities expansion and adopting new technologies,” Matthew Lapham, CEO and co-founder of Packaging Compliance Labs, said in a statement.
Packaging Compliance Labs previously invested $2.57 million in its Kentwood headquarters and added 27 new jobs through an expansion project announced in 2020.
More from Crain’s Grand Rapids Business:
Amphitheater, stadium developer mulls housing details for adjacent high-rises
$1.5B federal loan offered for Palisades nuclear plant restart
Michigan small business group sues feds over Corporate Transparency Act
