DENSO Manufacturing to spend $105 million in Battle Creek

Battle Creek will be one of the beneficiaries of DENSO Manufacturing's plans to invest $1 billion in North America over the next four years.

 

For the Cereal City, where the company makes advanced thermal management products, DENSO plans a $105 million investment that it says will come with 266 new positions--46 professionals and skilled trade jobs and 220 in manufacturing.

 

The jobs will come at its manufacturing facility in the Fort Custer Industrial Park in Battle Creek. New lines for radiators and condenser products and others are in the works. 

As part of the expansion plan, the company was awarded a $1.46 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant. The city of Battle Creek also offered five-year property tax abatements valued at $1.5 million.

 

In the future, DENSO plans to make all of its critical manufacturing equipment in North America.

 

The company says the investment will allow it to better support its North American customers, as well as expand into new business areas and create products that meet demands of U.S. manufacturers, especially those that will help automakers meet upcoming fuel requirements. More than $750 million will be invested in the United States alone, along with more than 1,200 jobs.

 

DENSO Corporation, headquartered in Japan, is a leading global automotive supplier of advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electric, electronics and information and safety. Its customers include all the world's major carmakers. In the U.S., DENSO employs more than 10,000 of its 12,000 employees worldwide.

 

"Last year, we announced that DENSO will drastically localize product in the regions in which we operate," says Terry Helgesen, senior vice president of Industry Relations at DENSO International America, Inc. "Not only are we making products in North America, but we’re also localizing critical tooling."