If you are looking for work, good news! A Ludington manufacturer has plans to expand, bringing more jobs to Mason County.
Whitehall Industries makes aluminum parts for cars.
They’re in the process of buying more land to expand.
The company currently has a plant in the Pere Marquette Industrial Park near Ludington.
They hope to expand there, and add another plant just down the street.
9&10’s Taylor Jones has more details on the plan that means jobs.
“We’re hoping to get approval on an expansion here in Ludington a 30 thousand square foot expansion in this plant where we are today, and then were going to build another plant down the road about 110 thousand square feet,” says David Cooper, President and C.O.O. of Whitehall Industries.
A necessary expansion because the automotive industry’s demanding more lightweight aluminum parts, that’s what Whitehall Industries specializes in.
They want to produce aluminum parts even faster.
“With this growth, we need more extrusion capacity, as well as more floor space for fabrication and machining, another extrusion press line and for machining centers robots, welding cells, whatever we need to make the parts,” says Cooper.
And with the growth, comes more job opportunities.
“More opportunities for our employees and for people that don’t work here yet. We’re going to need all kinds of machine operators, engineers, supervisors and so forth. So it’s a good thing for the town and the people here,” says Cooper.
Current employees are excited for opportunities to move up and help build Mason Counties’ economy.
“Great career opportunity, I started off just doing manual labor when I was just 19, I was doing a machine, I was on the same job for a lot of years. I moved up to a lead operator and then I eventually became a programmer so there is just room for improvement and room for advancement,” says Aaron Hoekwater, employee.
The expansion is expected to cost around 28 million dollars, and if it is approved soon, it’s expected to be done by next January.
“More employment, more pay checks and less unemployment, it’s going to be great for the community,” says Cooper.
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