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
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.
