MEDC approved a tax credit yesterday (today?) that will land the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corporation's Hummer HQ near Detroit, bringing 100 jobs to start and the potential for up to 300 later, with 641 spinoff support jobs at other area companies as well. This is all based on the sale of Hummer being completed, of course.
The Chinese company that's in the running to buy Hummer from General Motors Co. likely will locate the brand's corporate headquarters near Detroit, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Spokesman Nick Richards says Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Corp., which is still negotiating to buy the brand, initially will employ about 100 people at the headquarters with plans to grow that to 300.
The headquarters would house global design, engineering, product planning, purchasing, sales, service, marketing and financing, Richards said.
The Michigan Economic Development Authority on Monday approved a $20.6 million state tax credit over 10 years to lure the company to Michigan, Richards said. It also had considered sites in South Carolina and Tennessee.
The fact that we had to compete with Tennessee and South Carolina shows the importance of having these credits available. The sale falls through and the jobs don't get created, no harm done - but if Nancy Cassis had her way, the credit wouldn't have existed in the first place, and we couldn't even make the offer.
Even better was the announcement that California company Systems In Motion plans to bring 1,085 jobs to the Ann Arbor over the next five years, and apparently the company sales model is based on providing an alternative to clients that are currently outsourcing their IT work overseas.
The Silicon Valley-based IT services firm will open its center in Pittsfield Township. The company will create a software development training program to train recent graduates and mid-career workers new to IT work. The service center will provide customers with help desk support, software testing, IT operations, business analysis, software architecture and engineering and project and program management.
The company’s new center will serve clients that are outsourcing their IT work, which often goes to China or India. The business model calls for Systems In to provide a low-cost U.S. location at a price similar to offshore vendors.
Michigan beat out Texas and Ohio for this company.
So, it looks like Senate Republican attempts to stop job creation in Michigan are falling flat. Maybe Dillon will eventually sell-out to them on the MEGA credits as well, but in the meantime, be happy for the jobs we did manage to land.