Preh looks to open engineering center in Novi this year

The U.S. arm of Preh, a historically German automotive supplier, plans to open a development center that will handle engineering work in Novi later this year, a move that is expected to result in more than a dozen new jobs. "That's going to result in a lot of growth going forward," says Kirk Radford, a spokesperson for Preh who handles human resources for the Novi office. "The projection is to add 15 employees by the end of 2013." Preh opened its North American office in Metro Detroit in 2004 and has grown it to 32 employees and one intern. It hired seven people in 2012. Those staffers range from sales managers to engineers. The new hires are expected to be mainly engineers in the software and mechanical sectors. Preh specializes in automotive electronic driver control systems and sensors. It was started in Germany in the early 20th Century and has grown to more than 3,000 employees worldwide today. It is now owned by Joyson Group of Ningbo, China, but remain headquartered in Germany. Source: Kirk Radford, a spokesperson for Preh Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.