LANSING — Michigan is putting another $2 million behind 26 companies developing drones, autonomous vehicles, military technology, batteries, hydrogen systems and advanced manufacturing — technologies state economic-development officials hope can help create the next generation of Michigan manufacturing jobs.
The investment comes as Michigan faces a major transition in its traditional automotive economy.
More than 15,000 jobs in Michigan’s auto supplier and upstream manufacturing industries could disappear by 2030, according to the state’s 2026 Auto Workforce Transition Report. Parts manufacturing alone is projected to lose more than 11,200 jobs as the industry shifts away from components associated with traditional internal-combustion vehicles.
That makes Michigan’s effort to turn drones, robotics, defense systems and other emerging technologies into products manufactured in the state about more than innovation.
It’s increasingly about jobs, factories and Michigan’s future industrial base.
$5 Million Invested In 69 Companies
The latest awards are the third round of Michigan’s “Make It in Michigan” Mobility Prototyping Grant Program, operated by the Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification in partnership with Centrepolis Accelerator at Lawrence Technological University.
Since the program began, it has attracted more than 400 applications and awarded more than $5 million to 69 companies, according to the state.
The first round was much smaller, distributing $828,000 among 17 projects. Michigan subsequently expanded the funding pool as applications increased and the state placed greater emphasis on advanced mobility technologies.
Individual companies can receive up to $100,000.
But this isn’t simply startup money designed to pay salaries.
The grants are intended primarily to finance the difficult steps between inventing something and manufacturing it: engineering, product design, prototypes, testing, tooling, manufacturing planning and connections with suppliers.
That’s an important distinction.
Michigan already knows how to manufacture things at scale. The state’s strategy is increasingly aimed at applying that expertise to industries beyond conventional automobiles.
Drones Emerge As A Major Michigan Bet
Nowhere is that shift more apparent than drones.
Ten of the 26 new awards fall under advanced air mobility.
Ann Arbor-based Altora is developing a lightweight power-management system for drones. Auburn Hills-based Firefly Drone Shows is working on domestically controlled electronics for drone motors and propulsion.
Sterling Heights-based Mettle Ops will test U.S.-designed flight controls, motor controls and electric motors.
SMT Automation in Bruce Township is developing an automated manufacturing system designed to move drone companies from prototypes toward larger-scale production.
And Munro Defense in Auburn Hills plans to study foreign drone systems and develop realistic drone simulators for U.S. Army counter-drone testing and training.
That last example illustrates another important shift.
Michigan isn’t treating drones solely as an aviation industry. They are increasingly part of the state’s defense and manufacturing strategy.
Michigan’s five-year Defense and Aerospace Strategic Plan calls for expanding dual-use technologies — products that can serve both commercial and military markets — while leveraging Michigan’s existing manufacturing workforce and supplier network.
Michigan’s National All-Domain Warfighting Center also provides the state with a major testing environment for uncrewed aerial systems and other defense technologies.
Put together, Michigan is beginning to assemble many of the pieces needed for a drone industry: testing, motors, electronics, flight controls, sensors, aircraft and manufacturing equipment.
Not Just Drones
The $2 million reaches well beyond aviation.
Six companies are developing ground-vehicle technologies.
Ann Arbor-based Bedestrian is moving an autonomous cargo and delivery robot closer to production.
Rochester Hills-based Dataspeed plans to adapt an autonomous ground vehicle into a precision agricultural spraying system for Michigan orchards and specialty crops.
Southfield-based Mutually Assured Development is developing a modular autonomous electric ground vehicle capable of carrying as much as 1,000 pounds.
Three companies are developing marine technology, including autonomous underwater mapping equipment, an electric uncrewed surface vessel and hybrid-electric propulsion systems.
Another seven awards involve batteries, hydrogen or mobile power technology.
One has an intriguing connection to another rapidly developing Michigan industry.
Plymouth-based Marel Power Systems is developing a compact power system designed to support small mobile data centers.
From NASA Technology To Michigan Manufacturing
Some projects demonstrate how technology developed for one purpose can migrate into entirely different markets.
Ann Arbor-based Xiomas Technologies plans to adapt NASA-developed heat-sensing technology into a compact aerial imaging system for wildfire detection, mapping and other uses.
Great Lakes Crystal Technologies in East Lansing is developing diamond-based electronics designed to improve high-voltage power management.
Houghton-based Great Lakes Sound & Vibration is working on a smaller and lighter mobile generator for military and field applications.
And Hastings-based Velo X Aerospace is advancing an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft toward certification and potential future production in Michigan.
The geographic spread is also notable. Although many recipients are concentrated in Southeast Michigan, companies in Hastings, Hillsdale, Houghton, Hancock, Jackson, Reed City and Plainwell are among the awardees.
WHERE MICHIGAN IS BETTING ITS $2 MILLION
Advanced Air Mobility: 10 companies
Battery/Energy: 7 companies
Ground Vehicles: 6 companies
Marine & Water Transport: 3 companies
Total: 26 companies
The projects include drones, autonomous vehicles, robotics, military systems, hydrogen, batteries, mobile power, advanced electronics, agricultural technology and autonomous marine systems.
The $5 Million Question
Michigan officials say the program is intended to create high-quality jobs, strengthen domestic supply chains and help companies commercialize products in Michigan.
But MITechNews has no way to independently verify how many jobs the program has created.
Michigan has now invested more than $5 million in 69 companies, but publicly available program information does not provide a consolidated accounting showing how many permanent jobs have resulted from those investments, how much private capital recipients subsequently raised, how much revenue their products generated or how many products reached commercial-scale production in Michigan.
That does not mean jobs haven’t been created. It means the state’s job-creation claim cannot currently be independently measured from the information it has made public.
There are individual examples showing companies progressing beyond the prototype stage.
Brighton-based cargo-drone company Blueflite participated in the program while developing its drone platform for last-mile delivery.
General Orbit, another previous recipient, subsequently won Michigan’s PitchMI mobility, defense and advanced-manufacturing competition, receiving additional funding to advance its satellite-navigation technology.
But individual successes aren’t the same as measuring the economic performance of the entire 69-company portfolio.
For taxpayers, that becomes the longer-term test:
How many Michigan jobs were created? How much private investment followed the public money? And how many of these technologies ultimately will be manufactured in Michigan?
Can Michigan Manufacture The Next Industrial Revolution?
The larger issue is whether Michigan can translate a century of automotive manufacturing expertise into industries now attracting investment: drones, autonomous systems, defense, aerospace, robotics, advanced electronics and distributed power.
The need is becoming harder to ignore.
Michigan lost 19,200 manufacturing jobs in 2025, according to state labor-market data, while another 12,400 jobs disappeared from professional and business services.
Meanwhile, the state’s automotive transition analysis projects substantial losses among suppliers as the industry changes.
Michigan therefore isn’t necessarily looking for one industry to replace automobiles.
It may need several.
Drones could be one. Defense and aerospace could be another. Autonomous systems, robotics, batteries and advanced manufacturing could provide additional pieces.
A $2 million grant program isn’t going to transform Michigan’s economy by itself.
But if some of these 26 companies move from prototypes to production lines — and hire Michigan workers to build what they invent — the payoff could become considerably larger than the checks Michigan is writing today.
And that is ultimately the number Michigan taxpayers should be watching: not how many grants are awarded, but how many lasting Michigan jobs and businesses they help create.
