HP Hiring 250 In Pontiac, Joining Metro Detroit's IT Jobs Boom
Hewlett-Packard Co. is providing further evidence that southeast Michigan is one of the nation's hottest markets for tech jobs, with HP joining the hiring wave by bringing 250 new jobs to Pontiac.
HP Enterprise Services, a subsidiary of HP, which provides software consulting and support, announced it plans to invest up to $4.8 million to add technical employees in Pontiac and create a new supply channel of resources for the company's United States public sector accounts.
The company expects the project to create up to 250 direct new jobs, resulting in a state tax credit approved by the Michigan Economic Growth Authority valued at $3.5 million over the next seven years. HP Enterprise Services currently has 1,976 employees at the Pontiac location.
Michigan Economic Development Corp. officials said Michigan was chosen over competing sites due to the high quality workforce and the availability of technical resources.
Also, Magna Exteriors and Interiors USA Inc. said it plans to invest $14.4 million to restructure and upgrade its newly acquired business, Continental Plastics Co., and consolidate the majority of this business to Continental Plastic's existing locations in China Township and Benzonia. The company will also create jobs at an existing Magna Exteriors and Interiors plant in Howell.
The company expects the project to create up to 333 direct new jobs, resulting in a state tax credit valued at $1,495,524 over the next three years. The Charter Township of China and the City of Howell are supportive of this project and plan to approve a five-year property tax abatement.
The Dearborn Heights Brownfield Redevelopment Authority also won approval to use state and local tax capture valued at $69,617 to redevelop a vacant, contaminated and functionally obsolete gas station at 7205 N. Telegraph Road. The project is expected to create up to 35 permanent full-time jobs, with a total capital investment of approximately $1.1 million.
Also, the Wyoming Brownfield Redevelopment Authority will use state and local tax capture valued at $8,452,998 to demolish all buildings of the former General Motors Grand Rapids Metal Stamping Plant and prepare the site for redevelopment by new advanced manufacturing operations on approximately 87 acres of property located in Wyoming. The project will redevelop and remediate one of west Michigan's largest industrial sites and a former GM plant. The total capital investment will be approximately $10 million.
Also, General Motors LLC itself won state approval to amend a 2008 Large Brownfield MEGA board tax credit that involved a 530,000 square feet addition to the engine plant located at the company's Van Slyke complex. The amended credit, valued at $10 million, will support the complex's truck assembly operation. The new project is expected to add $91 million in private investment and will retain up to 185 jobs.
For the year to date, the MEGA board has approved agreements to assist the expansion of 44 companies that are projected to invest more than $1 billion and create or retain approximately 10,553 direct jobs. It has also approved 10 brownfield redevelopment projects with projected new investment of more than $557 million.
The Michigan Economic Growth Authority may, under statute, provide a refundable tax credit against the Michigan Business Tax to companies expanding or relocating their operations in Michigan. Tax credit agreements, awarded on the basis of the company's strength of project, program guidelines and MEGA board approval, are earned over time by a company's performance in meeting specified investment and hiring requirements.
The MEGA board is also empowered under statute to award Brownfield Redevelopment tax credits to support new business expansion projects on property that is contaminated, blighted or functionally obsolete.
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a public-private partnership between the state and local communities, promotes smart economic growth by developing strategies and providing services to create and retain good jobs and a high quality of life. For more information on the MEDC's initiatives and programs, visit the Web site at www.MichiganAdvantage.org.
