Affania Group Eyes Ann Arbor Home

[Allan]

Affania Group Eyes Ann Arbor Home

By Dan Heaton

Last updated: December 9, 2004 06:25am

ANN ARBOR, MI-Officials for the Affania Group automotive parts manufacturer would like to establish a new home in Ann Arbor, provided the state help with incentives. The company, formed recently from Dana Corp.'s aftermarket division, however, suggests the state is not making that choice too attractive.

Dana sold its aftermarket parts division, with 52 facilities and 13,000 employees worldwide, to the Cypress Group, a New York private equity investment group, for $1 billion. The division boasted sales of $2 billion last year.

The new company is looking for a headquarters site that is close to leading automotive companies and has a skilled work force familiar with the industry. Jerry McCabe, Affinia's vice president of marketing, says Ann Arbor fits that description perfectly. It is also an attractive option for employees who, like himself, were based here with Dana.

The company has already picked out a site near the Ann Arbor airport for its headquarters and is negotiating a package of tax incentives with the state. According to McCabe, the state of Ohio is also actively wooing the company, which also has a number of employees in the Toledo area where Dana is based.

"The people in Ohio have come to Affinia with some pretty good incentives to stay," McCabe says. "I think it's going to come down to where the best incentives are."

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