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Challenge Manufacturing Company announced this week it would build a $65.5 million plant in Windsor Township, with the help of $2.5 million incentive from the Michigan Strategic Fund.
(File Photo | MLive)
WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP - With the announcement of 420 jobs coming to the township, “The phone’s been ringing off the hook this morning,” said township Manager Jennifer Tubbs, who was part of a team that worked to secure the deal.
West Michigan-based Challenge Manufacturing Co. announced this week it would build a $65.5 million plant in the township, with the help of $2.5 million incentive awarded by the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF).
In addition to the jobs, it’s expected to generate a total capital investment of $65.5 million. The company is also building a new site in Pontiac.
The new manufacturing facility is planned as part of a new contract that Challenge Manufacturing has secured with General Motors, possibly to make parts for the new Camaro. Neither Challenge nor General Motors responded to requests for comment, and a timeline has not been announced.
Watertown Township in Clinton County, population 4,836 residents, is located roughly 12 miles northwest of Lansing's city center. The plant will be about four miles west of the Capital Region International Airport at 6375 W. Grand River Ave.
Tubbs said the township has a small but active economic development team that works in partnership with the region and state.
“This project was a great example of how our small team from the Township Board to The Planning Commission and all the staff in between worked diligently to meet the fast deadlines this company required to make a decision to locate here in Watertown Township.”
Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) President & CEO Robert Trezise, Jr. said today that the Lansing area was once known for auto manufacturing, but in recent years has seen investment in areas as diverse as nanotechnology and nuclear physics. Now the auto industry is once again expanding.
“I think it’s also exciting to say it’s just a piece of our pie now rather than the whole pie,” Trezise said.
According to information from the MEDC, the area was chosen over competing sites in Tennessee and Missouri.
Tubbs said there’s more in the works when it comes to economic development in Watertown Township.
“It is always great, when the long hours staff, elected officials and planning commissioners put in are rewarded with development of this caliber. The attention is nice, but for now, it’s back to work at the township and on to the next project,” Tubbs said.
This project is indicative of a recent uptick in investment in the Lansing community, Trezise said.
“I’m very very excited that Lansing region continues to be really one of the hottest economies in Michigan and honestly I think one of the hotter economies in the country,” Trezise said.