Displaying items tagged: Lakeshore Advantage

Economic developers from West Michigan and across the state increasingly find their roles shifting.

Like many economic development leaders, Jennifer Owens of Lakeshore Advantage says talent concerns remain a key issue for businesses in 2017. Aside from attracting outside businesses, the organization primarily will focus on training, recruiting and retaining talent next year, she said. To do that, Lakeshore Advantage is pushing a campaign that promotes the region’s leisure opportunities as a way to attract workers. Owens told MiBiz to expect accelerated growth from manufacturers of automation equipment in the coming year and said she’s also “very bullish” on the food processing sector. 

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for Sept. 6, 2016:

• M&A: Lansing-based Eckhart Inc., a portfolio company of private equity firm LFM Capital of Nashville, Tenn., acquired Auto Craft Tool & Die Inc. and 3 D Sales Inc., both of Algonac, Mich., in a deal to add more controls, robotics, and automation-based solutions and distribution capabilities. Auto Craft operates facilities in Marine City, where it makes material handling systems and specialized tooling for industrial manufacturers. The company manufactures door and instrument panel carriers and automatic guided carts. The related 3 D Sales business distributes industrial ergonomic and work cell components. The deal, the terms for which were not disclosed, was the first for Eckhart, a manufacturer of ergonomic assembly line equipment that last year joined the LFM Capital portfolio. The Nashville-based private equity firm focuses on lower middle-market manufacturers and industrial services providers with enterprise values in the $15 million to $75 million range.

At this time next year, economic developers from around Michigan will gather in Holland.

Koops Inc., a manufacturer of custom automation equipment, plans to invest $4.9 million into a new 40,000-square-foot facility adjacent to its headquarters in Holland.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for July 11, 2016.

• M&A: Belding-based Robroy Enclosures Inc., a subsidiary of Robroy Industries Inc. of Verona, Pa., acquired the assets of Texas-based Attabox Industrial Enclosures, according to a statement. The deal complements Robroy Enclosures’ existing Stahlin Non-Metallic Enclosures brand of fiberglass electrical enclosures. Attabox makes engineered enclosures for the industrial, solar, electrical, telecommunications, HVAC, instrumentation/control, government, oil and gas, and construction markets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

According to the most recent state jobs data, wages for manufacturing production workers in May sunk to their lowest levels in the last 12 years as the average hours worked dipped to the lowest point since 2009. Meanwhile, the number of people working in manufacturing hit its highest level in almost a decade.

Here is the MiBiz Growth Report for May 31, 2016. 

• M&A: Sun Capital Partners Inc., a Florida-based private equity firm, has acquired convenience store operator Admiral Petroleum Co. and Lemmen Oil Co. in Coopersville. Admiral operates 130 Admiral gas stations and convenience stores in Michigan and Indiana, plus nine under the Lemmen brand name. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sun Capital named Jeff Turpin, a 20-year veteran of the convenience store industry, as CEO. Turpin previously served as chairman and CEO of VPS Convenience Store Group, a former portfolio company of Sun Capital.

After reaching full capacity at its Grand Rapids production facility, Kent Quality Foods Inc.plans to invest $35 million into a second plant in Ottawa County’s Jamestown Charter Township.

The budget cuts at the state’s economic development organization have forced industry executives in West Michigan to adjust their tactics. 

Over the course of 2015, the Zeeland-based economic development firm helped create 780 new jobs and facilitate $110 million of private investment among 22 companies in Ottawa County, according to a statement.