Jaytec LLC takes over factory
building
Jaytec LLC, which manufactures parts for the automotive industry, is taking over the former Hayes-Lemmerz plant on Ida West Road in Summerfield Township.
The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of L&W Engineering, based in Belleville. The company is planning to spend about $18.9 million on the facility. Jaytec expects to provide 200 jobs within the first three years of production at the Summerfield plant, according to information given to township officials.
“We are absolutely ecstatic and glad to have them here,” said Zelda Lucas, Summerfield Township Supervisor. “Just to have them here providing jobs is a plus.”
The facility is being revamped as a stamping plant to make automotive parts. It is expected to take a year to begin producing tubular steel parts such as heat shields and side impact beams. The company supplies parts to several auto companies.
An official from Jaytec refused to comment on the project on Monday, Sept. 16. “It is company policy not to talk to the press,” he said.
A timetable provided to the township by Jaytec lists a closing date for the property of Sept. 23; building clean-up to begin Nov. 29; installation of equipment, July 1, 2003; and Phase I of limited production to start Aug. 1, 2003.
Hayes-Lemmerz, which made polymer manifolds for the automotive industry, closed earlier this year, leaving 150 workers without jobs. The facility includes 47 acres and also was formerly the CMI, and before that, the Charles A. Strand Co. which made industrial and commercial heating and air conditioning equipment. Currently, only two maintenance people work in the building.
“This plant’s been empty before, and we don’t need that,” said Mrs. Lucas. “I was starting to get fairly nervous about our tax base.”
Michigan Economic Develop Corp. approved an entire package of incentives to encourage Jaytec to locate in Summerfield, including state tax breaks and a worker-training grant.
Summerfield Township scheduled a public hearing to discuss local tax abatements for Wednesday, Sept. 18.
“The township officials discussed it briefly at our last meeting and the board agreed that they were willing to go ahead with it,” said Mrs. Lucas.
The company is asking that the remaining six years of a 12-year 50% real property tax abatement be transferred from Hayes-Lemmerz to Jaytec; and also the remaining six years of a 12-year 50% personal property tax abatement. In addition, the company is asking for a 12-year 50% tax abatement on improvements to real property, and a 12-year 50% tax abatement on personal property for new equipment brought into the plant.
About 95% of the workers at the Summerfield plant are expected to be new hires with the rest being transferred from other locations. About 72% of the employees will be hourly workers and the rest salaried workers.
Estimated annual wage and benefits paid to works is estimated at $4,823,000. Total annual taxes paid (accounting for tax abatements) was estimated at $282,817 (over a 20-year average).
Mrs. Lucas said officials from the company first contacted the township about August 1, but asked them to keep things quiet. She advised them to speak with Bill Morris from the Monroe County Development Corporation, and he accompanied company representatives to Lansing on Sept. 11.
She added that company officials said that the water supply at the plant was adequate, and municipal water would not be needed. The facility currently uses water from a large pond in its fire-suppression sprinkler system and uses well water for other purposes.
The L&W Engineering company already has 11 plants under various names, including one in Dundee (Axis Engineering) and Blissfield (L&W), as well as other locations in Michigan, Ohio and one in Tennessee.
