Thanks to some assistance from the city and the state, a Dowagiac manufacturer is slated to expand its operations in the coming years —creating nearly 100 new jobs in the process.
Earlier this month, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced they were awarding a $348,000 grant to Dorel Home Furnishings to help enhance the Ameriwood plant in Dowagiac. Ameriwood — a subsidiary of Dorel — is set to receive a $2-million expansion, with the project expected to create 87 new jobs, according to a release from the MEDC.
The Dowagiac plant, one of several Dorel owned furniture manufacturing plants throughout North America, is currently at capacity. Choosing to expand its operations in Dowagiac instead of other sites in Ohio and Ontario, Canada, the company sought out a grant from the MEDC in order to offset the costs of the project, which would have been cheaper to complete in other regions, representatives with the MEDC said.
The grant money will be distributed in three increments over the next three years: a $100,00 block in Feb. 28, 2017, another $100,000 on Feb. 28, 2018 and the remaining $148,000 by no later than May 31, 2019. These distributions are contingent on Ameriwood reaching certain milestones, most important of which is the creation of new jobs.
Many area leaders reacted positivity to the news, including State Rep. Aaron Miller.
“These are badly needed jobs for families in Dowagiac, and a significant investment into the local economy,” Miller said in a release to the Daily News. “Dorel chose to remain in Michigan instead of moving to competing sites in several other states and Canada. This is one result of the legislature’s hard work over the past six years to improve Michigan’s economic environment to bring more jobs and investment to our state.”
Several local entities also threw their support behind the Ameriwood expansion, including the Cass County Economic Development Corporation and the City of Dowagiac. In the latter’s case, city officials have pledged to enact a property tax abatement to support the expansion.
“[Ameriwood] is looking to create 87 jobs,” said City Manager Kevin Anderson. “That is a significant amount of jobs for this area. We are looking forward to working with them.”
The city has yet to determine the exact terms of the tax abatement. Leaders are expected craft and enact the abatement as the expansion project gets further underway, Anderson said.
The city manger, like Miller, was very supportive of Ameriwood’s initiative.
“We are glad the MEDC supports projects like this,” Anderson said. “We are pleased to see Ameriwood continuing to invest here, as well. It speaks well of Dowagiac and the business environment here.”
Representatives with Dorel and Ameriwood could not be reached for comment before press time.