8 development projects to get tax incentives

[Allan]

8 development projects to get tax incentives

Michigan expects 2,000 new jobs

September 15, 2004

BY JEWEL GOPWANI

FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Michigan development officials Tuesday announced plans for eight economic development projects -- secured using tax incentives -- at locations including Detroit, Wixom and Fowlerville.

The main projects in southeastern Michigan include a new office for Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Ceradyne Inc., which for a $946,000 tax credit plans to open a design office in Wixom in November. The project will bring five to 10 jobs to the area in the next year and up to 52 in five years.

The move puts the maker of ceramic parts for applications from orthodontics to autos closer to the Detroit automakers, said Michael Kurilla, programs manager for Ceradyne.

The company's office will make ceramic parts for commercial and military vehicles, Kurilla said.

Ann Arbor-based Mobius Microsystems Inc. will receive a $4.3-million incentive to move its headquarters to the Grand Circus Park district in downtown Detroit by November. The company expects to grow to 19 jobs by the end of next year.

In all, the state expects to create more than 2,000 jobs over the course of the tax credits, which can vary from a few years to more than 10 years, said Paul Krepps, managing director of communications for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

While those numbers sound good, it's hard to tell how many actually would be created, said Patrick Anderson, principal of East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group.

"I think what typically happens is that companies that are interested in locating in an area anyways shop among states to see what kind of incentives they can get," Anderson said.

"There's no guarantee that these promised jobs will ever materialize."

Other projects include: