Livonia-based Roush Industries Inc. and Inzi Controls Detroit LLC will receive state assistance totaling more than $1.1 million to help create an expected 271 jobs in Southeast Michigan.
The expansions, approved Wednesday by the Michigan Strategic Fund, are expected to generate almost $13 million in private investment.
“Michigan leads the nation in creating manufacturing jobs, and these new expansions underscore an economic climate that is more business-friendly than ever and a manufacturing talent pool that can compete with any place in the world,” MEDC President and CEO Michael Finney said in a statement.
Sources told Crain’s in May that Roush would assemble 100 Google Inc. self-driving prototype vehicles after retrofitting an unknown existing model at its Allen Park prototyping center.
According to a briefing memo from the MEDC, which does not mention self-driving vehicles, the company plans to expand the space it leases in Allen Park as well as at multiple engineering and manufacturing sites in Livonia. It also plans to lease additional engineering space in Livonia.
Maureen Crowley, director of corporate communications for Roush, wrote in an email that the need for additional space is not driven by any particular program but is due to the company’s expansion into the oil and gas and aerospace sectors as well as the continued growth of its current products.
Roush manufactures “automotive performance products and alternative fuel systems for fleet vehicle applications,” according to the MEDC memo. It also provides engineering, prototyping and testing services for clients in the transportation, defense, entertainment, aerospace and oil and gas industries.
Roush was awarded a $1 million performance-based grant on the pledge to create 210 jobs. The company chose to expand in Michigan over competing sites in Illinois, New Hampshire, Colorado and Florida, the memo said.
Inzi Controls Detroit, a subsidiary of South Korea-based Inzi Controls Co. Ltd., plans to open a $4.1 million manufacturing plant in Rochester Hills. The company makes sensors and engineering plastics along with interior parts for several automakers, according to the memo.
Inzi, which plans to create 61 jobs, was awarded a $150,000 performance-based grant after choosing to locate in Michigan over a site in Alabama, where its North American operations is headquartered.
Rochester Hills is offering an eight-year property tax abatement valued at $102,000.
