GRAYLING – Saab, the Swedish defense and security company, is moving forward with plans to build a $75 million munitions plant in Grayling Township.
“We see this as a great step forward, a great opportunity to build a meaningful place in the community, up in Grayling…” said Brad Barnard, vice president and general manager of Saab, Inc.’s Land System Division at a meeting of the Michigan Strategic Fund board this morning, “We’re really, really excited to move forward and strengthen Michigan’s position as the arsenal of democracy.”
The plant is expected to break ground before the end of the year and to be operational by early 2026. It will bring an estimated 70 jobs to the region with wages ranging from $23 an hour to more than $50 an hour, according to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Saab may be best known to Americans as a former carmaker, but the company’s primary business has always been in defense and, with conflicts raging around the world and Sweden’s entry into NATO earlier this year, it has seen its business grow.
“Given current global security challenges, it is critical the United States strengthens its national defense capacity,” said Erik Smith, president and CEO of Saab in the U.S., in a statement. “Saab is proud to partner with the state of Michigan and the local community to establish a world-class facility that, with our range of products, will increase and modernize the domestic production of munition systems.”
Specifically, the plant will produce the company’s Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb system and shoulder-launched munitions.
The Michigan Strategic Fund board approved a $3.5 million grant for the project this morning along with a 15-year state essential services tax exemption worth up to $664,500. Saab will also receive a state education tax abatement.
“This investment from the MEDC and Saab will create livable wages here in Northeast Michigan, and that means our kids don’t have to leave the area to find good jobs,” said Doug Baum, executive director and CEO of the Northeast Michigan Council of Governments
“I can say with confidence that this project is a smart investment and one that this region really needs,” he said.
But the project has also drawn opposition from many of the same people who rallied against a 2022 effort to more than double the size of the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center, which is already the largest National Guard training center in the U.S.
“I’m not opposed to jobs,” said Jim Knight, a trustee of nearby Bear Lake Township. “I’m opposed to defense contractors coming here in the light of this disaster that we’ve had caused at Camp Grayling with the PFAS.”
High levels of the harmful chemical were found at Camp Grayling in 2017 and subsequently in Grayling-area drinking water wells, pollution that officials say was caused by the use of firefighting foam on the base.
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