July 27th, 2010
Detroit Edison and Monroe County Community College have signed a 20-year agreement that will provide the utility’s customers with renewable energy generated from the sun.
A 500-kilowatt, $3-million photovoltaic system will be installed on the east side of campus and should be operating in the spring after design and construction are completed. The installation is part of Detroit Edison’s pilot Solar Currents program that calls for photovoltaic systems to be installed on customer property or rooftops over the next five years to generate 15 megawatts of electricity throughout southeast Michigan.
Last week, Detroit Edison, a subsidiary of DTE Energy, announced that it is planning to build a 200-kilowatt, $1-million solar installation on the roof of a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan parking structure in downtown Detroit.
“We’re pleased that Monroe County Community College will be among the first organizations to participate in Solar Currents, which is one of the largest distributed solar programs in the country,” said Trevor Lauer, DTE Energy vice president, marketing and renewable.
Detroit Edison plans to invest more than $100 million in the program, which requires customers to participate for 20 years. The solar energy systems will be owned, installed, operated and maintained by the utility. In return, customers will get an annual payment or credit on their energy bill based on the systems size, as well as a onetime, upfront construction payment to cover any inconvenience during installation.
The Freep, July 25, 2010
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July 22nd, 2010
Whiting plant to get state recognition
Consumers Energy’s J.R. Whiting power plant near Luna Pier is among 13 facilities recognized this year with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s “Neighborhood Environmental Partners” Award for outstanding commitment to the environment and community outreach.
The NEP Program offers business and citizen groups the opportunity to work together to improve their neighborhoods, making them cleaner and more attractive places to live and work.
“When businesses and their neighbors work together to improve our environment and natural resources, everyone in the community benefits,” said DNRE Director Rebecca Humphries. “I congratulate these facilities for their enthusiastic commitment to the environment and a willingness to improve their communities.
Director Humphries will recognize each facility and their community partners with awards ceremonies planned throughout the state in the coming weeks.
The Whiting plant has been recognized as a partner periodically over the years for developing and maintaining wildlife habitats near the plant, community beach clean-ups, dedication of property near the plant to conservation groups and other efforts.
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June 29th, 2010
| Monroe Evening News 06/09/2010, Page A007 |
Temperance-based MTS Seating unveils new chair, table designs
MTS Seating of Temperance recently launched a range of new furnishings for the hospitality market.
The products include a new “Cascade” leg-on-leg stacking chair for use where conventional banquet seating designs are not suitable. It includes a fully upholstered seat and back with the functionality of a stackable chair.
“We believe that the Cascade addresses a need in the hospitality market for a chair that features an elegant design and delivers performance in a size and scale that makes it ideal for banquet and meeting room environments,” said MTS Seating CEO Phil Swy. Constructed with a steel frame, it’s engineered to stack up to 10 high.
Another new MTS design is the “Vio” stacking chair for use in banquet, conference and meeting rooms.
“The Vio’s sleek, high-tech design is something rarely seen in banquet and meeting room seating,” Mr. Swy said. It incorporates a triangular aluminum alloy frame and can be stacked up to 14 chairs high.
The company also has unveiled a collection of stackable banquet seating designed by Kay Lang, featuring six back styles and four leg options.
“We are proud to be able to bring Kay’s vision to the marketplace,” Mr. Swy said. “The combinations of elegant lines and upscale styling make a truly compelling combination that will be well received in the marketplace.”
Kay Lang, president and chief executive officer of Kay Lang + Associates, is known in the field of four and fivestar hospitality and high-end residential design.
MTS specializes in banquet and foodservice seating for the hospitality market. It was founded in 1955 by Paul Swy and Dean Curtis and continues to be owned and operated by the Swy family.
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May 19th, 2010
Industrial development surprisingly strong last year
■ Some major projects at year end accounted for most of the jobs and investment recorded by the Monroe County Industrial Development Corp.
BY CHARLES SLAT
ctslat@monroenews.com
Monroe County’s ailing economy not only has a pulse, it might be on the mend, based on the amount of industrial investment that occurred late last year.
New or expanding industries created at least 524 jobs in the county during 2009, according to the Monroe County Industrial Development Corp., a nonprofit public- private partnership that helps firms settle or expand in the area.
New industrial investment totaled more than $400 million. The numbers were the third best in the IDC’s 28-year history.
Industry leaders got a report on the 2009 developments during the IDC’s annual meeting Wednesday.
“Although it didn’t feel like it, we got a lot accomplished,” said Ronald D. La-Beau, IDC chairman. “I feel we did a very good job given what’s going on in southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio.”
Monroe County’s unemployment rate remained in double-digits during the year and industries continued to slash jobs or close their doors, but there were glimmers of activity around the county, particularly during the last three months of the year.
The bulk of the investment and new jobs were related to four major projects — continued investment at DTE Energy’s Monroe Power Plant and Fermi 2 nuclear power plant, retooling of the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance plant at Dundee, expansion of the Meijer Inc. distribution center in Berlin Township and plans for the Ventower wind-turbine tower-making plant in Monroe.
Other new or expanded industries during the year included the Bosch testing facility in Ash Township, FEDCO and Quality Foods in Monroe and Accuworx and Temperance Distillery in Temperance.
Royce R. Maniko, Monroe County administrator, provided a historical perspective on the IDC’s work, recalling long-ago efforts to lure a tomato processor to try to diversify the economy, work on plans for a superconducting supercollider, and a bid to get a defense department financial and accounting center to settle in the county.
He remembered providing site tours to Meijer officials in 1987 that resulted in construction of the retailer’s distribution center near Newport.
Such efforts can lay the groundwork for future economic expansion, such as this past year’s $27 million addition to the warehouse that’s expected to add 190 full-time and 100 part-time jobs.
“Some of those, even in a bad economy, will expand again,” he said.
“We’ve had some success in a very poor economy,” Mr. Maniko said, suggesting that it could be a sign the economy is turning around a little bit.
It also was reported that the IDC’s Business FIRST program, designed to assist small-business formation, worked with 92 clients, providing a range of help and leading to the formation of seven new small businesses.
Although the IDC tries to track jobs that it has had a role in attracting or keeping in the county, it acknowledges that it doesn’t count construction jobs, job erosion due to plant closings or jobs that are created without any IDC involvement.
“2009 has been challenging for all of us in the Midwest and particularly in southeast Michigan,” added William P. Morris, IDC president.
He said he has heard that some industries intend to wait for the auto business to rebound before they make new investments in their companies.
“I don’t believe it’s coming back, at least not the way it was,” he said.
“This year is going to be equally as challenging if not more challenging than last year.”
The IDC formed in 1982 when business and industry leaders became concerned due to economic conditions that are not unlike those existing today.
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April 22nd, 2010
BY EVENING NEWS AND AP STAFF
Tenneco Automotive won state tax credits worth more than $1.8 million Tuesday that will help it create 185 jobs in southeastern Michigan during the next year, including some at its operations in Monroe Township.
The Michigan Economic Growth Authority granted the tax credit in response to a company plan to invest up to $15.6 million to consolidate its facilities in the U.S.
Under the plan, its operatoins in Monroe, Grass Lake, Marshall and Litchfield will focus on design, engineering and manufacturing of diesel emissions-control products.
“I am pleased that Tenneco Automotive was selected to receive this tax credit,” said state Sen. Randy Richardville, R-Monroe. “The company’s decision to consolidate its operations will provide economic growth opportunities and muchneeded jobs for southeastern Michigan.”
The project is estimated to produce 684 jobs. Currently, Tenneco employs 1,461 individuals in Michigan.
Tenneco makes ride-control and emission-control parts for gasoline, hybrid and diesel-powered vehicles. It had its beginnings in Monroe with development of the Monroe shock absorber and now has an original-equipment headquarters in Monroe Township.
The tax credit was among 10 the state approved Tuesday, including a business support company’s proposal to create more than 1,900 jobs in Southfield and a health care company’s plans to hire about 1,000 in Flint.
The MEGA board approved a $9.1 million tax break over four years for Farmington Hills-based Minacs Group USA to invest $11 million in expanding at a new facility in Southfield. The project would include call centers and other services.
The board also approved a $61.5-million tax credit over 18 years for Flint Townshipbased Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy. The company plans to spend $12 million to move its headquarters to nearby Flint and expand in part of the Great Lakes Technology Centre, a former manufacturing and office complex.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm said the projects represent efforts to diversify the state’s economy beyond manufacturing.
“Our aggressive diversification strategy is paying off,” she said. “Very few places have the one-two punch of a competitive business climate and highly skilled work force like Michigan that can attract new investment.”
Among other projects, PSCU Financial Services was granted a $3.5 million tax break over five years to encourage the financial service provider to invest up to $12 million to expand in Auburn Hills, creating more than 830 jobs.
The board approved a $4.6 million tax credit over five years for a proposal from Somerset, N.J.-based GalaxE. Solutions, an information technology company, that includes investing $4.2 million and hiring 500 people in Detroit.
The board also backed manufacturers, including a $5.6 million credit over seven years for auto parts maker Magna International Inc. to spend $49.2 million and create about 500 jobs.
■ 10 projects in the state got tax breaks, including the nearly $2 million for diesel emissions-control products that will mean more jobs in the Monroe area.
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April 13th, 2010
A growth recipe
Charles Slat ctslat@monroenews.com
Published: April 11, 2010
While many companies were making plans to shrink in the face of recession over the last couple of years, Randy and Wendy Wright were mapping expansion plans for their business. The owners of Actuator Specialties Inc. in Monroe saw their plans become reality recently when they and two partners opened a diversified sister company, Midwest Valves & Automation, at 455 Detroit Ave.
The two firms go together like butter and toast, and are part of the Wrights’ recipe to build business while keeping it in Monroe and in the United States.
“We’re very much American-made,” Mrs. Wright says. “America’s not in great shape right now. Why go out of the country to get stuff?”
ASI, located in a 10,000-square-foot building at 1620 Rose St. in the Samuel J. Mignano Jr. Industrial Park, specializes in repairing and supplying parts for actuators — the motor-driven devices that commonly open and close huge valves in places ranging from power plants to steel mills to refineries and water treatment plants.
Now, Midwest Valves & Automation, an industrial valve repair firm, has renovated and settled in a 21,000-square-foot building at 455 Detroit Ave., about two blocks away.
Partnering with the Wrights in the new business are the Macomb Group, based in Sterling Heights, and Dayton Precision Services of Dayton, Ohio.
The companies promise rapid response to far-flung customers who might lose millions when a valve or actuator, or both, go on the fritz.
Jim Keaney of Dayton Precision Services said the big-valve repair business is among a handful of such specialty firms in existence in the U.S. His firm partnered with the Wrights because it would give his company two locations within the Midwest right off I-75. One of the talents Dayton brings to the partnership is the ability to do heat-treating in the field.
Macomb Group serves as the sales force for the firms. “We’ve never had a sales person before,” Mrs. Wright explained, adding that Randy was the one who sometimes would make sales calls. “This will keep Randy off the road more.”
In addition, Central Gear of Madison Heights has set up a machine shop in the Midwest building to provide on-site custom machining services.
Among the reasons ASI has grown and Midwest is getting off the ground is that utilities and other companies hoping to control costs are opting for repairs and rebuilds of actuators and valves rather than paying far higher prices for new parts.
Mrs. Wright said the business hasn’t slackened during the recession because big companies continue to tighten their belts and seek ways to cut costs.
ASI also has one of the biggest inventories of actuator parts around and Midwest is starting to build an inventory of valves.
While bringing business to Monroe, the company also has made an effort to buy locally. “We used all local companies,” Mrs. Wright said.
“We have used only local labor and vendors to renovate our building and build our valve shop,” she said. She said creation of the valve shop has injected almost $2 million into the local economy.
ASI’s beginnings date to 1997 when Mr. Wright, an Ida native with about two decades of industry experience, began reconditioning and repairing valves in the basement of his home. The company expanded to a warehouse in Ida and moved into its current location in 2005.
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March 29th, 2010
Work to start on Monroe wind tower plant
After nearly a year-long delay, a company that will make huge towers for wind turbines is moving ahead with plans for a $19 million plant at the Port of Monroe that might create about 150 jobs.
Ventower Industries LLC will break ground Tuesday for a 115,000-square-foot facility on 38 acres at the Port of Monroe. The factory should be in operation within nine to 12 months, said Gregory Adanin, chief executive officer.
Its initial timetable called for the plant to be completed and operating by now, but as plans jelled, the nation slipped deeper into recession, tightening credit and slowing demand.
But since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, project financing and demand for wind power products has improved, Mr. Adanin explained. The company was approved this year for $2.6 million in federal energy manufacturing tax credits through the ARRA. It also has been approved for $4.4 million in state tax credits.
The single-story pre-fabricated steel building will be erected at 111 Borchert Park Dr. off E. Front St. Mr. Adanin said as many as 300 workers will be employed in building the plant. “We anticipate the plant will be able to make 250 towers per year,” he said.
The company will receive thick steel plates, form them into conical shapes and weld them to make towers that will range in height from 60 to 120 feet. The products will be finished and painted at the plant, with interior ladders, pulleys or elevators installed, before being shipped to intended customers, usually by barge.
Plans for the project first took shape in early 2008 and company officials had narrowed their choice of sites to Toledo or Monroe.
Mr. Adanin said the firm chose Monroe because of the compelling case local officials made for the location as well as the fact that the company’s principals were all from Michigan and wanted to see the plant developed in state, if possible.
“We considered the city and the folks at the Port as our partners in the very early stage,” Mr. Adanin said. He said city and port officials excelled at explaining the advantages of the port, the training options and skilled work force available.
The firm first took the name Great Lakes Tower but changed it to communicate a more global reach, Mr. Adanin said. The Ventower name is derived from the Latin ventus, meaning wind, and “tower.”
The company is partnering with Monroe County Community College to provide a trained work force. Mr. Adanin said information about jobs at the firm will be posted at some point in the future on the company Web site at www.ventower,com.
Monroe City Manager George A. Brown said the city and port will benefit from the project, not only in terms of new jobs, but with infrastructure improvements such as a rail spur and dock improvements that will make the port area more attractive to other industries. Those improvements probably will occur this year, he said.
The port property, a reclaimed brownfield, will be transferred to Ventower’s ownership for $100. Mr. Brown said the city also intends to grant a 50 percent tax break on Ventower’s real and personal property.
Amid an economy that continues to struggle, the new plant is “a shining moment” for the city, said Mayor Robert E. Clark. He said it not only puts Monroe in the alternative energy picture, but will provide it with alternative manufacturing that will help diversify the economy.
City Manager Brown said the city worked with the state economic development officials and local legislators to put a package of incentives together to land the project.
Mr. Adanin, a Brownstown resident, worked previously as director of operations for Metaloy of the United Kingdom, buying and selling steel. He said when it dawned on him that wind generation was becoming a growth industry and that a wind tower involves a huge amount of steel, he decided to strike out on his own with a company to supply the towers.
Expected to attend the groundbreaking Tuesday are Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell, state legislators and local officials.
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■ Redevelopment of a shuttered factory in Monroe underscores the potential for reusing vacant commercial or industrial buildings in the region, developer says.
BY CHARLES SLAT
ctslat@monroenews.com
It appeared destined to become a white elephant — a sprawling, empty factory with an unhappy past and an uncertain future.
But Roger L. Homrich says he saw potential when he looked at the vacant, former IKO manufacturing plant at 1151 W. Elm Ave. on the fringe of a Monroe neighborhood.
The complex closed in 2000 after residents and city officials raised objections to the smells and environmental impacts of the shingle-paper manufacturing operations there.
Vacant and abandoned, it had all the signs of becoming a Rust Belt relic, an artifact of a time when factories commonly churned near the doorsteps of modest middle-class neighborhoods.
Now Mr. Homrich says he hopes his redevelopment of the property will symbolize the potential for abandoned industrial hulks that litter Southeast Michigan in the wake of the worst recession in generations.
Mr. Homrich is the son of Roger I. Homrich, president of Carleton-based Homrich Inc.
“We have a lot of great buildings out there — some only a few years old — that are empty all over Southeast Michigan,” Mr.Homrich observes. “That’s going to be big in our future — repurposing these structures from an era gone by.”
The 200,000-square-foot facility operated for decades as a paper-making plant under various owners. The last was IKO, which brought jobs to the area, but began being viewed by nearby residents as an undesirable neighbor that generated odors, noise, illness and complaints.
After being cited for violations of air pollution laws and hit with a class-action lawsuit, the plant left town.
In stepped Arbor-Vale, Mr. Homrich’s Dundee-based property redevelopment company, which bought the property about a year ago.
“I told people my goal was to take this from controversy to cupcakes,” Mr. Homrich says.
He appears to have achieved that, quite literally.
Instead of continued decay, the former IKO plant now is warehousing for Quality Food Brands Inc., a Monroe-based firm that has seen a growth spurt. It’s using much of the building for storage of its cake and cookie mixes and other food products. The most decrepit sections of the old plant were recently razed.
“They had an opportunity to develop outside of Monroe and, fortunately, we were able to find a solution with that property so they could expand their business and invest further in the community,” Mr. Homrich explained. “They were willing to invest in Monroe, but really didn’t have a lot of options in Monroe,” he says. “There were significant challenges to repurpose these facilities but fortunately we were able to do it.”
“It really couldn’t have worked better because when you decide you’re going to invest in a property of that size and with the economic climate that we had a little over a year ago, it can be a daunting situation,” Mr. Homrich says.
It also couldn’t have worked out better for Linda Compora, a neighborhood resident whose opposition to IKO operations led to her election to city council. No longer on council, she’s happy with the re-use of the building.
Mr. Homrich has done everything that he said he would,” Ms. Compora said. “We couldn’t be more pleased.”
She said the warehousing operation hasn’t impacted the neighborhood. “We don’t even know they’re there and I’m glad to see part of the factory coming down.
Finally, we have some good neighbors.”
Mr. Homrich recently razed a northern section of the building where the old paper mill line once operated, and he figures Quality is occupying about 75 percent of the remaining useable space.
“It will improve the viewscape,” he said of the demolition. “If you let those buildings fall into further disrepair you’ll have a situation similar to what we have to the north of us where it just sits around.
They don’t have redevelopment potential, so I want to prevent any safety hazard or anything that brings down the value of the whole property.”
Among the largest challenges to such re-use is environmental hazards that might exist on the old properties and ridding sites of obsolete structures, he says. But in many cases, reusing buildings can be less costly than building anew.
“We have quite a surplus in Monroe County or Southeastern Michigan of just about every classification of real estate,” he says.
“My goal with this is that there are other properties, even in Monroe County, that could benefit from this similar process.”
“I guess it’s trying to change the public opinion of what’s possible with these facilities. A lot of people tend to just write them off. We hope people will understand there’s a lot of potential with these buildings.”
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February 11th, 2010
| Monroe Evening News 02/10/2010 |
State recognizes steel plant in Frenchtown
Spartan Steel Coating in Frenchtown Township recently was recognized by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for maintaining a state Clean Corporate Citizen designation for the past five years.
The company’s participation in the program “clearly demonstrates that focusing on environmental management and pollution prevention is a fundamental part of smart business strategy,” state officials said. “By making continual improvements that optimize environmental performance, facilities are both cutting costs and contributing to health communities.”
The state said it was sending a certificate to mark the achievement and foregoing an awards ceremony, as has been done in the past, “due to budget constraints” and the pending departmental reorganization.
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January 18th, 2010
Making waves
by Charles Slat , last modified January 16. 2010 11:17PM
Spread The News
ShareMichigan touts the Great Lakes as an economic asset, crucial to both transportation and recreation.
But some port and coastal Great Lakes communities in the state figure they’re being left high and dry when it comes to funding to support those roles.
Among them are the cities of Monroe and Luna Pier, which have joined a group hoping to make some waves on behalf of Michigan’s coastal towns.
They are part of the Michigan Port Collaborative, a relatively new organization formed to advocate for Michigan’s port communities and coastal cities.
“Our whole marketing campaign at the state level talks about how fortunate we are to have the Great Lakes, but there’s no policy or funding for it,” said Pam Stanley, economic development director for the Port of Monroe. “There’s no funding you can go after for infrastructure improvements or anything like that at the state level.”
Both she and Greg Stewart, Luna Pier administrator, are among the collaborative’s 19-member interim steering committee, helping to set up the parameters of the new group. Its goal is to get better recognition for Michigan ports and harbors at the state and federal level.
“We’re trying to put together a strong organization for this collaborative to seek funding and policies that would enhance our ports and harbors,” Ms. Stanley said.
The Port of Monroe has been able to get dredging done over the past three years, thanks to Congressional earmark legislation pushed through by U.S. Rep. John D. Dingell, D-Dearborn. But this year, no dredging money appears on the horizon. Nor is there money for infrastructure projects to support economic development projects, such as the wind turbine tower manufacturing company that is planning a plant at the Port of Monroe.
Ms. Stanley said the port will have to invest in heavy concrete pads to support cranes, dock and rail improvements to serve the new manufacturer because transport of the towers is most efficient via water.
“We’re faced with trying to provide financing for that infrastructure and that’s very difficult,” she said. A financing plan is being developed, but no formal state program exists for enhancing the water transportation that the state views as so critical to its commerce.
She said one of the goals of the group is for advocacy on behalf of ports and coastal towns that will result in policy that provides money for infrastructure improvements. “Several states have done this and have been able to provide policy at the state level that provides them with dollars for their infrastructure,” she said.
Mr. Stewart said his community is hoping its involvement in the group will have multiple benefits.
“What we’re looking for is, first of all, ideas,” said Mr. Stewart. “I think a number of port cities in Michigan have gotten their acts together. We’re looking for best practices of what’s been done, but we’re also looking at ways to collaborate to either find grant money or influence what’s going on with the Great Lakes.
He said the town also hopes to get info on grant opportunities that other communities have used in the past. “There seems to be a lot of activity in the Great Lakes and I don’t know that Lake Erie, especially its west side, has gotten its share,” he said.
“The federal government and state have been doing grants for docks and piers and that’s exactly one of the areas were looking at,” he said. “How do we find those grants and be able to make this whole thing happen.”
Luna Pier has been interested in making the town an access point for ferry service to the Lake Erie islands. Army Corps funding normally is available only for improvements at commercial ports, not recreational venues such as Luna Pier.
Mr. Stewart said hundreds of people representing more than 50 ports and coastal towns showed up for a summit of the collaborative in October, including many from private industry, tourism and shipping businesses. “A lot of people are interested in what’s going on on the shoreline,” Mr. Stewart said.
“I think this is an excellent opportunity for Monroe County communities on Lake Erie, such as Luna Pier and Monroe,” said Chris Heid, a Luna Pier city councilman. “We can learn from the western and northern Michigan port communities, find out what works, and what doesn’t. They can help us identify funding opportunities and speak as an effective voice in Lansing as well as Washington.”
Mr. Stewart said he and Ms. Stanley, along with John Kerr of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, are the three Southeast Michigan representatives on the group’s steering committee. He said the Detroit officials expressed keen interest in the ideas Luna Pier is exploring.
Water transportation remains among the most efficient methods for moving bulk commodities and other products, Monroe port officials said. “A lake barge can move one ton of cargo 514 miles on a gallon of fuel,” said Thomas Krzyston, chairman of the Monroe Port Commission. “Michigan ports are an intricate part of our state’s multi-modal transportation network.”
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