Battery company Fortu PowerCell clears last hurdle with state tax credits
(West Michigan Business)
A new manufacturing era in Muskegon County might have been launched at a Michigan Economic Growth Authority meeting. The state MEGA Board unanimously approved two state tax credits worth $112.6 million to bring fortu PowerCell Inc. to an industrial site in Muskegon Township.The German-Swiss-based advanced battery manufacturer promises to invest $623 million and create up to 726 jobs in the coming years. It is Muskegon’s biggest economic development project in decades and moves Muskegon into a new generation of electric-vehicle propulsion. Fortu PowerCell will quickly become Muskegon County’s second largest industrial employer behind Alcoa Howmet in Whitehall. Fortu PowerCell will use the expertise and experience of the German-based Bayer to help it bring the new vehicle battery technology into the North American market. Fortu has an initial manufacturing site located on a Bayer “chemical park” site in Dormagen, Germany. Beyond the 726 jobs — 126 coming in the first phase in 2012 and the remainder after 2013 — the state estimates the fortu PowerCell development will create an additional 1,245 jobs in the West Michigan region.
