It may be at least a year before hiring begins for the slew of new jobs promised with the 740,000-square-foot plant expansion underway for Magna Electric Vehicle Structures in St. Clear.
The big addition of operations, with a planned investment of $426. 6 million and 920 jobs over three years, was unveiled Tuesday through the company, its parent company Magna International and state and local officials just hours after the Michigan Strategic Fund approved millions in financing. Support.
Greg Ross, Magna’s plant manager, said the new facility “will look like it’s in place” around the first quarter of next year before starting to install the device until the third.
“In the first quarter of the 24th, we will start increasing production and start hiring at the end of the 23rd, we will start at the 24th,” he said.
The news was widely applauded at an official announcement rite at the existing 345,000-square-foot plant on Range Road, where paintings preparing the initial structure have already been visual for a few weeks.
Magna Electric Vehicle Structures, or MEVS, first opened its first meeting of local complex structural battery boxes for electric cars for electric cars for the first time more than a year ago. Inaugurated in February 2021, the facility built to produce cabinets for the BT1XX Platform, adding the GMC Hummer EV.
At the time, that meant a commitment to invest $70. 1 million and three hundred new jobs in St. Petersburg. Clear over the next five years with the $1. 5 million grant from the Michigan Business Development Program.
The most recent expansion will bring jobs ranging from mechanical engineers and engineering technicians to device production and maintenance personnel to manage a duplicate electronic coating formula and production and storage capacity. Ross said this also includes other jobs for management, such as human resources.
In driving the desire for expansion, Ross said it’s a call for greater volume from the EV industry as a whole.
“The trays are selling. GM is setting up an additional program, so there’s more volume there. What we are doing today is not enough for this volume,” he said. .
By mid-2025, the maximum volume of expansion in St. Clair will be from 2000.
Tuesday’s announcement also comes after the company recently awarded a new contract to get more battery boxes, according to the state.
“I’m very excited. In fact, this is a wonderful victory for St. County. Sure, really,” St. Clair Mayor Bill Cedar said Tuesday afternoon. “These are well-paying jobs. A lot of young people are leaving. “the domain because there is no work. I just hope it helps keep other people young in the domain to raise families, it’s helping schools.
But Cedar admitted there were many moving parts to the deal that helped win the expansion of St. SPetersburg. Clear: What was also echoed by Dan Casey, CEO of St. County Economic Development AllianceClear.
While most of the main points didn’t come to light until late Tuesday, local officials laid the groundwork for a $44 million blanket incentive package that includes a reduced fee for Magna to take over additional ownership of the city’s commercial park, new logo infrastructure and 500,000-gallon water tower.
“We just couldn’t have won if we couldn’t validate for the company that the city met the needs of the company,” Casey said in an interview. “They were looking in other situations, in other places. They were even looking for status. So we literally had to win this expansion like it was a new logo from the start.
At more than 1 million feet, Casey said Magna’s expanded facility, once completed, will be among the largest in the county.
The chairman of the St. Clair, Jeff Bohm, whose district includes St. Clair, compared its generational impact to that of the Blue Water Energy Center recently operating in eastern China.
“From a fiscal standpoint, DTE’s power plant was bigger. But from an employment perspective, this is by far the biggest task that has preoccupied me in my 18 years on the board. It’s a big deal,” Bohm said Monday. It is not only about the jobs, but also about the technical aspect of many things. When you communicate about jobs, when you communicate about the newest and biggest cutting-edge technology, what they’re doing there, there’s actually a high-end work coming up.
The structure itself, Ross said, would start with the structure of the electronic cladding line, mirroring the existing plant, before heading north.
A representation of the company shows the facility projecting into the Range with a reception on the west side and parking at the south end.
Casey said the assets are about 23 acres.
On Tuesday in Earna, Cedar briefly reflected on the thrill of nonetheless achieving a state of continuous progress for the property. The struggle to satisfy her for two decades also includes his long tenure as mayor.
“It’s been a long time,” he said. He pointed to the total duration of the project, underscoring the saying that “good things come to those who wait. “
Magna is a mobility generation company and one of the largest automotive providers, and Michigan is headquartered in the United States with 32 services and more than 10,000 employees.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation on Tuesday announced two more Magna investments in Shelby Township and Highland Park. The 3 projects were expected to generate capital investment of over $526 million and create more than 1,500 jobs for the state’s residents.
Clearly, Jen Nelson, EFF’s lead chief operating officer, said they were “paving the way for long-term transportation” — Magna’s contribution to helping the state remain competitive in the electric vehicle industry.
For the project, the Michigan Strategic Fund on Tuesday approved an amendment to Magna’s past approved grant to St. Clear of $1. 5 million to $7. 5 million and a 15-year 15-year One hundred percent Essential Services Assessment Waiver for the company valued at up to $6,304,520 for its eligible investment of $287,590,000.
The EFF also allowed a state education tax reduction to be used alongside any approved reductions.
However, at the local level, many approvals are still awaiting county and St. City Council members. Clear.
Council officials and City Attorney Jim Downey first publicly announced in September this year that a first step was taking place, a discussion about creating a Local Development Finance Authority, or LDFA, around the commercial park to help new infrastructure through tax construction funding.
Since then, there had been silence about what this progression was.
Discussions about the AFL were scheduled to continue on Oct. 17, but were postponed in Downey’s absence.
The authority, the long-term taxes generated through the new Magna building, had a dual purpose.
The package approved through the MEDC included a $3. 6 million grant that Casey said would cover 60 percent of the charge for needed new infrastructure. The people would have to cover the rest, an expense, he said, that is reimbursed by backing or borrowing the funds.
While “engineers are still polishing the pencil” on estimates, Casey said an examination showed that the water tower and minimal water pipe extensions to the domain around Magna would cost $4. 1 million and $950,000, respectively.
It’s possible another $2. 5 million could be spent on a booster station, though Casey said it “looks like it wouldn’t be necessary. “
Magna would then also get the expansion assets for $1 as a component of its incentive program.
“However, the people must be paid through someone for the value of the assets. So we made an Array deal. . . for the county to pay the money,” Casey said. “The county will necessarily buy the village site, and they’re going to move it. “
Cedar said Tuesday that he believes the county land reserve, whatever Bohm has championed before, would be to make that initial purchase of $700,000.
And once the LDFA is created, Casey said he will reimburse the county for the acquisition and the town for its percentage of infrastructure costs.
“That’s what we want to paint this week and next,” Cedar said. “. . . When you do a task like this, as you say, ‘Mechanical Parts,’ it’s a lot. We have an organization of about 10 people We get together now and do everything hammering and smoothing.
In addition to the state exemption, the city is also reportedly on track to signal a 50% rebate over 12 years on tax revenues from the assets improved through Magna’s new construction.
Casey said that once the expansion is complete after two years, it’s possible that about $1. 3 million a year in new taxes will be captured. His firm wrote the quote TIF. Il also administers the MEDC grant.
“The return on investment is short. Normally, a city would have bonds for water and sewer infrastructure for 10, 20, 30 years, whatever it takes to pay for them,” he said. “But in this situation, it’s going to be short because the taxes that will be generated through this new construction are so many that, compared to the charge, we will be able to pay them in five or six years. “
Casey calls those investments “derivatives,” drawing attention to the residual projects they generate. On Tuesday, he told the Magna Officers’ Hall that it would be in the region and outside of St. CountyClear.
And the “real advantages of landing an assignment like this,” he said in an interview, would be homebuilders, service-providing communities, the retail sector, etc.
However, initially, all officials asked the question: where will the 920 come from?
Casey said recruiting other people to work at St. Clear and live locally has been a high priority for the EDA, as they perceive that the region “does not have enough subdivisions underway or planned at this time to fulfill the call to come. “.
“So this is going to create opportunities for new residential advancements of all kinds,” he said.
Bohm said many of the staff members would likely come from neighboring Macomb County.
He hoped that the county’s list of skills and stakeholders would grow over time.
“St. Clair County doesn’t necessarily look smart on paper, and what I mean by that is when you look at schooling levels. The jobs, the education, the number of engineers you have, we have to put Macomb in the equation. “Bohm said, “We’d say, ‘Hey, Macomb literally lives up to us, so when you look at the demographics of St. County. Clear, don’t worry. “
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett. com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.