The Greenville City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to shell out $12,500, matching a state grant to study whether it would be feasible to build a new Electrolux plant.
City leaders have been scrambling to find a way to keep Montcalm County’s largest employer since Electrolux warned its workers last month it might move its refrigerator production to Mexico to take advantage of lower labor costs.
Closing the plant would cost 2,700 jobs in West Michigan.
“I’ve been on a rollercoaster with this thing,” Mayor Lloyd Walker said. “I get down and up. This is the first step.”
The city money will match a grant by the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
In 30 days, the feasibility study is expected to offer a new, more efficient design for an Electrolux facility and financing options for its construction.
The company’s 1.5 million-square-foot facility is 100 years old.
The community’s Electrolux task force will determine the mix of consultants, which now includes Rockford Construction, Beta Design Group of Grand Rapids, Albert Kahn &Associates from Detroit and Fluor, based in San Francisco.
The task force will meet for a second time on Thursday.
“We’ll have solid data as far as the feasibility study in a month,” said Bryan Gruesbeck, assistant city manager. “We’ll see whether or not it’s feasible working with a number of firms on pieces of the study. We have an extremely limited amount of time.”
The feasibility study will determine funding sources such as state and federal grants, industrial development revenue bonds, lease or buy-back options.
According to Walker, the task force is eyeing a 150-acre site in the new Greenville Industrial Park, north of Vandeinse Road, for the new plant, as well as suppliers to Electrolux.
Councilwoman Joyce London said she was concerned whether a new, more efficient Electrolux plant would mean a reduction in the workforce.
“If we’re saving 1,600 jobs, it’s better than none, and more supplier companies can come in,” she said.
From mlive.com