Kalamazoo Times

Hoping to entice more business development in Michigan, state leaders are touting a new bipartisan bill they say will help them secure investment opportunities that will create more economic growth.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) recently signed Senate Bill 844 that will help fund the state’s bipartisan Strategic Outreach Attraction Reserve (SOAR) program, which was created in December of 2021; a recent press release from her office said.

"Creating the SOAR fund has been one of the country's biggest economic success stories,” state Rep. Matt Hall (R-Comstock Township) said in the release. “Instead of watching jobs leave our state, we took action to bring good-paying manufacturing jobs back to Michigan. The next step is developing better sites around the state to bring in even more new jobs. That is why this plan is so important to our local economy and to Kalamazoo and Calhoun County especially. This budget is a strong investment right here in our community and shows faith in Southwest Michigan workers."

The SOAR fund will seek to provide assets for property development to entice businesses to construct their projects.

“Today, I am proud to sign another bipartisan bill that will build on Michigan’s growing economic momentum, attract billions in investment, and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs,” Whitmer said in the release. “The bipartisan legislation will help us grow, attract, and retain businesses in Michigan, ensuring we can lead the future of mobility and electrification and bring supply chains of chips and batteries home to Michigan. Our work on economic development is a testament to what we are capable of when we work together. Let’s keep putting Michiganders first and moving our state forward.”

The provision earmarks $496 million for future economic investments, $350 million for site development statewide and $27 million for China-based chip manufacturer Hemlock Semiconductor to develop a facility in the state.

“We have taken another step today to keep growing Michigan’s economy and I am grateful to Governor Whitmer and bipartisan leaders in the legislature for prioritizing economic development,” state Sen. Curtis Hertel (D-East Lansing) said in the release. “Securing these funds will help us attract more jobs and investment to every region of the state.”