VENTRA IONIA MAIN, LLC
Ionia automotive supply chain manufacturer announces facility expansion
The MEDC is supporting the new development with the approval of a $600,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant.
Indiana for the project. The Right Place worked with the company in collaboration with the MEDC to ensure the expansion project happened in West Michigan. The Right Place also connected Ventra to workforce development resources at West Michigan Works! to assist with talent recruitment and training. “Ventra and the Ionia business community continue to be a vibrant contributor to West Michigan’s economic growth,” said Therese Thill, Vice President, Business Development, and project lead. “We are proud to support another growing business that will create jobs right here in West Michigan.”
Ventra Ionia, an automotive manufacturer of front and rear bumpers and grille assemblies, plans to expand its current operations in Ionia, Michigan. The company intends to purchase an existing 48,900 square foot facility adjacent to its existing facility, resulting in 109 new jobs and a capital investment of up to $4,850,000. This expansion will allow the company to move an existing portion of the business to the newly purchased building, freeing upmuch needed space in the main facility for a new Ford Ranger bumper program. The new program is likely to include assembly, paint, and/or chrome finishing. “Today’s news wouldn’t be possible if not for the commitment and talent of our workforce in Ionia, a workforce that has been directly responsible for years of success and now an extremely promising future for our Ventra operation,” said Bill Beistline, Vice President of Procurement at Flex-N-Gate. “We are also grateful to The Right Place, The Ionia County Economic Alliance and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, because it takes a special kind of partnership to create jobs and make expansion plans of this magnitude a reality. Our company is proud to operate 12 plants and two Development Centers in Michigan, all of them thriving, and there is no question the best days for our Ventra operation in Ionia are just ahead.” Headquartered in Urbana, Illinois, Flex- N-Gate, the parent company of Ventra Ionia, employs more than 26,000 people at 62 manufacturing facilities and multiple product development and engineering facilities throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, France and Spain. The Right Place and West Michigan competed against several other states, including existing locations in Illinois and
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2018 ECONOMIC SUCCESS STORIES
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