Kalamazoo County Government issued the following announcement on Sept. 25.
On Tuesday, September 24, 2019, the Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) approved an Act 381 Work Plan to allow for state and local tax capture valued at $21,064,391 to alleviate brownfield costs incurred by Graphic Packaging International, LLC (GPI) in the redevelopment of vacant brownfield property in the City of Kalamazoo & Kalamazoo Township. GPI is investing more than $600 million in the planned expansion to include construction of a new building to house a new Coated Recycled Board Machine with an annual capacity of more than 500,000 tons.
The expansion will position GPI to be the top provider in North America of recycled paper-based solutions for food, beverage, food service and other consumer product companies. The brownfield eligible costs involved in the redevelopment of the vacant industrial property include demolition, asbestos abatement, and public infrastructure improvements. The expansion is expected to retain 625 jobs and create up to 50 new jobs in the region. Site preparation and construction will take place over the next 3 years and is expected to require up to 1,000 construction jobs. The redevelopment is expected to have a positive economic impact for local suppliers and the Greater Kalamazoo community. Kalamazoo County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (KCBRA) Chair Ken Peregon commented “The KCBRA is excited we are able to assist GPI through our brownfield redevelopment program and that the MSF board has agreed to support this project.
The expansion of GPI on to the former Checker Motors site will return a disturbed and vacant parcel to an environmentally sound and productive use, something many in our community may have doubted would ever happen.
KCBRA is pleased to use our brownfield redevelopment tools to support private development of compromised sites throughout the County and to be part of this terrific public-private partnership with GPI, Southwest Michigan First, the City of Kalamazoo, and Kalamazoo Township.” Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioner Chair Julie Rogers stated, “Our KCBRA has worked hard for over a decade to find a developer for the blighted, abandoned former Checker Motor site. We are thrilled GPI has chosen to expand their business in Kalamazoo County with machinery that recycles while helping us clean up a contaminated property.”
Original source can be found here.
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