$20 M expansion underway for Magna Electronics

Having just agreed to work with Ford on its hybrid program, automotive electronic parts manufacturer Magna Electronics is expanding into a $20 million Rochester Hills facility it hopes to occupy by the end of April. “We just ran out of all the seats in the building,” says Kevin Pavlov of Magna Electronics. Magna Electronics is moving from its existing 12,000 square-foot facility into a 55,000 square-foot facility in Rochester Hills. The company expects to create 90 jobs over the next five years. The state recently approved a $3.4 million tax credit to keep Magna Electronics in Michigan. Pavlov says the company was looking at out-of-state sites, but the credit and the manufacturing base encouraged the company to stay. “This is the center of auto production so we’re in what we see as being the center of an expanding auto market,” Pavlov says.   The city of Rochester Hills is considering an eight-year abatement valued at $139,271 to support the project. Magna Electronics is currently working with Ford to create a battery-operated vehicle. Production is set to start in 2011. Source: Chelsea Nimiac, DP+CompanyWriter: Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains.