Ball Company
Name: Ksenia Tarasova
1. What is the situation with manufacturers in your area? Are they firing workers or hiring more? What are some of the environmental factors affecting local plants?
The Lansing region is an important notch in the Midwest manufacturing belt.
Lansing's downtown area continues to undergo a facelift that began in the late 1990s. Loft development is bolstered by grant monies if certain criteria are met. One such project that is scheduled for completion in late 2006 is the $7 million conversion of the downtown Plaza One building into offices, retail stores, and about 50 apartments.
In 2001 General Motors (GM) built its first new assembly plant in the United States since 1986, an innovative 1.9 million-square-foot, $585 million Lansing factory whose 11,000 workers produce three different types of Cadillac automobiles. Nearby Delta Township witnessed the opening of a GM stamping plant in 2003 and another new assembly plant is expected to start operations in 2006.
Despite the 2004 departure of the historic Oldsmobile plant, the city received a huge boost by the 2001 opening of the new General Motors (GM) plant. Industrial leaders such as GM adapt progressive manufacturing processes and new technology. Many firms are following GM's lead to institute advanced materials-handling techniques and to encourage participatory management, with the goal of improving product quality and increasing competitiveness. A variety of high-technology firms spawned at Michigan State University has pushed for rapid growth in that industry.
The creation of new jobs that feed into a prosperous economy is the purpose behind the Michigan Economic Growth Authority. Fiscally-responsible companies in the fields of manufacturing, research and development, wholesale trade, or office operations can make use of Small Business Tax credits. The Lansing area has two designated Renaissance