Meanwhile, new places to conduct that training are still popping up on the Michigan landscape. In August, glazed window manufacturer Saint-Gobain Sekurit announced it will invest more than $18 million in a five-year, two-phase project that will employ almost 650 people in Shelby Township. Part of the allure was a 50-percent property tax abatement agreed to by the township, as well as a 12-year tax credit of more than $4.7 million and $400,000 in job training funds awarded by Michigan Economic Development Corp. The company already operated a technical sales office in Rochester Hills, Mich.
      "This will be Saint-Gobain Sekurit's first manufacturing facility in the United States, and it hopefully will lead the way to additional growth by our company in the U.S. and Michigan," says Norm Chavka, director of sales and operations at Saint-Gobain. "I could not think of a better place to grow our automotive business than right here in the heart of the automotive capital."
      Earlier this year, Tier 1 automotive electrical component and systems supplier Siemens Automotive made a similar move, choosing Michigan over South Carolina as the site for a new $67 million, 200,000-sq.-ft. (1,850-sq.-m.) vehicle engineering center, to employ more than 1,200 people. Their incentive package included a 13-year, $16.3-million tax credit and up to $1 million in training funds, as well as an abatement of state education tax and local property taxes over the next eight years.
      "The expansions of our resident corporate citizens are key to a healthy local economy," says Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson. "This confirms that Oakland County has what it takes for research, development and technical firms." Adds William Ross, Auburn Hills city manager, "The company has been an outstanding corporate customer, participating in the life of the community, as well as doing business here."
      That's not all the good news for Auburn Hills. On Oct. 31, international supplier Dow Automotive signed a lease for a new 81,000-sq.-ft. (7,500-sq.-m.) facility, a deal negotiated by Signature Associates-ONCOR International, a leading commercial real estate brokerage firm in Michigan.
      MEDC's Kopp points out that Michigan's MEGA tax credit program stands out because of its length of credit (up to 20 years), its flexibility (R&D qualifies, as does high-tech) and its lack of "claw-back"provisions. "The MEGA program does not require a repayment of funds if companies leave prior to negotiated length of credit," she explains. "In fact, other states require the business to stay twice the length of the credit or they have to repay funds."
      Kopp says that even in a manufacturing slowdown, when many projects have been put on hold, there has been a steady flow of technical centers and R&D facilities locating in Michigan, a sign that the industry is choosing to use the breather it didn't ask for to fortify its infrastructure.