20
MiMfg Magazine
October 2017
MFG
@ Work
Lear Corporation Breaks
Ground on Flint Facility
A new, state-of-the-art manufacturing
facility is coming to Flint as Lear
Corporation broke ground on a new
seat manufacturing facility located on
the site of the historic Buick City
complex. The 156,000-square-foot
plant will be the first major automotive
supplier manufacturing facility in Flint
in over three decades.
Lear Corporation, a leading global
supplier of automotive seating and
electrical systems, announced that the
facility will employ 600 workers when it
reaches full production.
The site was chosen for its proximity
to the homes of many workers, location
of the GM plant and Lear’s mission to
give back to a community that has been
hit hard recently
“I have a lot of pride in Flint; it helped
shape who I am today,” said Ray Scott,
a Flint native, graduate of University of
Michigan-Flint and the executive vice
president of Lear Corporation. “We had
options for other locations that we
considered but what was important to
us was that this was the right thing to
do from a community standpoint. To
build a modern, state of the art facility at
that location is very symbolic and historic.”
Lear worked with GM and the City
of Flint while deciding on the location
for the new manufacturing facility of
which Lear dedicated $29.3 million in
capital investment at the site, plus a
$4.35 million grant from the Michigan
Business Development Program.
The Flint facility is expected to
begin production by April of next year.
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Lear’s ground breaking event in Flint.
ASTI Environmental “Super
Connector” Earns Economic
Development Award
ASTI Environmental’s Douglas K.
Brown, director of development, was
honored this summer as the recipient of
the Michigan Economic Developers
Association’s (MEDA) Robert Sieghart
Award for Enthusiasm for the Economic
Development Profession. The Award
was presented during MEDA’s annual
conference and celebrates an individual
whose passion and dedication helps
bring new professionals into the field.
Called a “super connector” in
networking by Jennifer Owens, president
of Lakeshore Advantage and his award
nominator, Brown has worked closely
with economic developers throughout
the state to share best practices and
critical resources.
He has brought diverse groups of
stakeholders together to collaborate on
land development projects that have raised
taxable values, created jobs and raised
the quality of life in communities
Lakeshore Advantage president Jennifer Owens
with Sieghart Award winner Doug Brown.
throughout the Great Lakes Region for
more than 30 years. Brown has also worked
tirelessly over the last nine years as MEDA
Membership Committee Chair, leading
to a substantial increase in membership.
“ASTI Environmental has been a
dedicated member of MMA for over
20 years,” says Chuck Hadden, MMA
president & CEO. “I applaud the hard
work of Douglas Brown and the entire
ASTI team in their effort to support
projects within the manufacturing
industry and other economic sectors
in order to create jobs and boost the
Michigan economy.”