PORTAGE (WKZO AM/FM) — The Stryker Corporation plans a $110-million expansion at their current plant site on East Centre Avenue, adding about a quarter-million square feet to the half-million square feet that are already there.
City Manager Larry Shaffer says the really “glorious part” is the jobs it will create.
They will generate 150 new positions over the next two years and 260 over by 2025. The average salary of the new jobs will be $73,000/year.
The City Council gave their approval to expand the local tax break the city has already given to development on that parcel to include the new construction.
Earlier on Tuesday, Stryker also received a $2.6-million dollar performance grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, which will fund an employee café and patio, training space and offices designed to promote collaboration. They will only get the money if they meet their promise on job creation.
Also receiving money from the state this week, a new housing development in Downtown Kalamazoo was awarded a $4.4-million loan from the Michigan Community Revitalization Program.
400 Rose will turn the old site of Kalamazoo’s Police and Courts building into apartments, kitty-corner from the Downtown Library.
They plan to start construction on the $25.5-million dollar project this fall.
