GRAND RAPIDS – Luxury storage company California Closets is expanding to Cascade Charter Township with financial support from the Michigan Strategic Fund.
The company is building a new facility in West Michigan to supply the Eastern United States and expects to generate more than $5.7 million in private investment and create 61 jobs in exchange for a $335,000 grant from the MSF, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation said in a statement. Michigan was chosen over competing sites in Illinois, Georgia and North Carolina.
“West Michigan is attractive to us due to many factors. It offers proximity to our customers and supply base but more importantly a strong talent base in manufacturing and design,” Eric Wolff, the company’s retail division president, said in a statement. “The West Michigan area has been a leader in forward thinking and furniture-related industries which fits our direction and future.”
The MSF also awarded community development block grant funds to projects in the city of Hart ($212,750 for façade improvements downtown), Elk Rapids ($213,340 for blight elimination for four historic structures that have been physically altered), and the city of Howell ($275,703 for façade improvements to three buildings in the downtown area).
MICHIGAN MAIN STREET PROGRAMS: The communities of Charlotte, Lapeer and Sault Ste. Marie have been selected by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to take part in the Select Level Michigan Main Street Program, meaning the communities will receive five years of “intensive technical assistance from MEDC with a focus on revitalization strategies to attract new residents, business investments, economic growth and job creation,” a statement by Governor Rick Snyder said Thursday.
“I’m excited to see how these three communities will grow within the next five years,” Snyder said. “With the support of the Main Street program and the MEDC, I believe we can positively transform the downtowns in some smaller communities to ensure their place on Michigan’s path toward our future.”
There are 18 other communities already participating in the select level and 35 communities in the program overall (associate, select and master levels), with different services and commitments at each level.
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