LANSING—Ten industrial sits across Michigan have been awarded $728,500 in site readiness grants, officials at the Michigan Economic Development Corp. announced. Awarded under the Michigan Build Ready Sites program, the targeted grant program of the Site Readiness Improvement program, the grants are aimed at boosting Michigan’s inventory of available properties ready to compete for business attraction projects.
“These site-ready projects underscore Michigan’s continued commitment to working with our local partners and communities to foster business growth and developing our inventory of shovel ready sites across the state,” said MEDC Chief Business Development Officer and Executive Vice President Josh Hundt. “With the innovative projects our partners have brought forth, we are positioning the state to grow a more resilient economy that will have meaningful impact on our business attraction efforts, and ultimately bring good jobs for Michiganders.”
The Michigan Build Ready Sites program is intended to assist with the development or enhancement of industrial sites to help them get closer to having Vetted Site Standards and make them more competitive during the site selection process. Local and regional economic development or community partners submitted applications that demonstrated a plan and pathway to a vetted site. Grant funds under the program could be used for activities including site development studies or site material development, site implementation or land assembly activities, and more.
Grants were awarded to the following projects:
- Ann Arbor Spark, Wagner Road site in Scio Township, Washtenaw County, study for development of wet labs at the site, $75,000 grant, $132,800 local match
- Baraga County Economic Development Corp., Olsson site on L’Anse-Lambert Road, Baraga County, installation of gas line, $75,000 grant, $20,000 local match
- Chippewa County Economic Development Corp., Kincheloe building, Kinross Charter township, repairs and replacement of roof at building on former Air Force base, $75,000 grant, $75,000 local match
- City of Ecorse, Mill Street site, Wayne County, site access improvements, $75,000 grant, $13,790 local match.
- City of Grand Ledge, Winstanley and Comet site, Eaton County, road improvements in industrial park, $75,000 grant, $75,000 local match
- Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, Eastern Market Superior Street site, Wayne County, market sites near Eastern Market and perform predevelopment activities to allow for business attraction project, $75,000 grant, $280,000 local match
- Kent County Department of Public Works, 14th Avenue site, Dorr Township, Allegan County, site improvements for development of a new sustainability park, $75,000 grant, $75,000 local match
- City of Hancock, Dolomite Drive site, Houghton County, improvement of underutilized property, $75,000 grant, $570,000 local match
- Hillsdale County Economic Development Partnership, U.S. 12-M-99 site, Jonesville, Hillsdale County, addition of broadband at existing industrial park, $53,500 grant, $5,000 local match.
- Muskegon Area First, 5642 Grand Haven Road site, Norton Shores, Muskegon County, purchase and improvement of existing property for future development, $75,000 grant, $70,750 local match.
For more information on each project visit this link. Five more communities are under consideration for an additional $300,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds for site ready projects.
Michigan moved up three spots in Area Development’s 2020 Top States for Doing Business rankings this year; including No. 7 overall for the state’s site readiness programs, including the Michigan Build Ready Site program. Other initiatives highlighting site selection in Michigan include a dedicated landing page for site selectors. This site serves as a one-stop-shop for any and all site selector needs from statistics demonstrating Michigan’s strengths as a place to do business to Zoom Prospector database access.
A key component of the Michigan Build Ready Sites Program is the establishment of Vetted Site Standards, a voluntary resource that provides a critical roadmap to helping Michigan sites achieve “shovel ready” status. These standards include appropriate planning and zoning, boundary survey, proper soil and environmental conditions, and more.
The Michigan Build Ready Sites program’s creation was guided by input from the Collaborative Development Council (CDC), utility partners, stakeholders and other local economic development partners.
For more on the MEDC and its initiatives, visit www.MichiganBusiness.org.