$301M, 345 JOBS! Bay Future Chair Mike Seward Reports Economic Growth
Bay Has Entrepreneurial Culture, SVSU's Affholter Tells Annual Meeting
February 10, 2013
By: Dave Rogers
Dr. Joseph Affholter, who spoke on entrepreneurship to the Bay Future, Inc, annual meeting Friday.
Mike Seward, chairman of Bay Future, Inc., was ebullient in reporting to the community Friday that last year brought $301 million in projects creating or retaining 345 jobs.
The full house crowd at the DoubleTree Hotel was on its feet, cheering, as Mr. Seward, 2013 Chair Jeff Mayes and Magen Samyn, president and CEO, lauded last year's economic development accomplishments.
The five attraction projects and eight expansion projects were the focus of the annual meeting.
Bay Future-supported 2012 economic development projects include:
Dow Corning Corp., Auburn, $117 million investment in development and manufacturing of silicon-based coatings for the electronics industry, creating 73 jobs;
Gougeon Bros., Inc., Bay City, $1.2 million investment in 11,000 square foot R&D facility, adding or retaining 14 jobs;
EMCOR, Inc., $122,023 investment in new equipment for the precision linear motion actuators for the aerospace/aeronautics, defense, automotive and medical device industries, adding or retaining six jobs;
MERSEN USA, Williams Township, $21.3 million investment at a new 80,000 square foot facility, creating 32 jobs in the emerging market for the purification and coating of parts for the solar and semiconductor industries;
MERSEN USA, Bay City, $10.3 million investment in building additions and new equipment to increase capacity, creating four new positions and retaining other jobs;
Michigan Sugar Co., Bay City, $25 million investment in new sugar beet slicers, pulp presses, packaging equipment, high pressure boiler and diffusion tower, doubling the consumer powdered sugar and brown sugar capacity and adding three jobs;
Quantum Composites, Monitor Township, $400,000 investment in engineered structural composites equipment, adding at least six new jobs;
NextEra Energy Resources, $2 million investment in renewable energy infrastructure in Merritt Township.
American Kitchen, Bay City, 4400,000 investment in new restaurant, creating 20 jobs;
COPOCO Community Credit Union, 3,000 square foot branch in Valley Center Technology Park;
Brink Terminal Services, $3.2 million in new liquid fertilizer terminal in Bangor Township, creating three jobs;
Consumers Energy, $102 million in environmental project at Karn Weadock Generating Complex, averaging 90 skilled trades jobs per day through 2013;
"These companies and their leaders exhibit what continues to make our community one of the greatest in the nation," exclaimed Mr. Seward. "Bay Future brings jobs, tax base and income to this community."
Dr. Joseph Affholter, entrepreneur-in-residence at Saginaw Valley State University, said the Bay area personifies what entrepreneurship can bring, citing "a great history made by Defoe, Sage, Begick and Michigan Sugar," and local community attributes that contribute to growth.
He noted that the 636 finalists in the Ernst & Young U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year competition last year were from firms that increased job growth 30 percent, compared to the U.S. average of 1 percent growth. Revenue growth from those firms was 48 percent, compared to 6 percent in all firms in the country.
Of the 3 million jobs created in the U.S. last year, he said "all were essentially created by entrepreneurs," adding "that's the opportunity for the Bay area."
Affholter, a Michigan Tech graduate who holds a doctorate in molecular pharmacology from Stanford, is a co-founder of Gantec, Inc., a Midland firm, as well as being an SVSU faculty member.
Gantec is a global enterprise that applies natural growing innovations using earth-friendly renewable resources. Products include natural fertilizers and natural plant nutrients.
Dr. Affholter is a research scientist, biotechnology corporate executive and consultant focusing on business, technology, intellectual property and leadership development. His primary focus is helping high technology (energy, chemical and bio-pharmaceutical) companies anticipate change and invest in a high-value tomorrow.
He defined entrepreneurs as "those who launch new enterprises under conditions of extreme uncertainty and employing innovation to address perceived opportunities in the market."