DETROIT — Plastech Engineered Products Inc. is engineering a move to Dearborn, where it can expand operations and be closer to Ford Motor Co.
The St. Clair Shores, Mich.-based auto parts maker has leased a building in Dearborn, Mich., to accommodate its rapid growth.
The move follows the firm's announced, $128 million acquisition last month of United Screw & Bolt Corp. and its Bryan Custom Plastics injection molding subsidiary in Bryan, Ohio. Privately held Plastech would double its sales to $300 million if shareholders of closely held United Screw & Bolt approve the deal.
That deal positions Plastech as one of the largest minority-owned suppliers to longtime patron Ford, where Plastech owner Julie Brown, a Vietnamese immigrant, spent 11 years as an engineer. She declined to be interviewed for this story. Nearly 70 percent of the firm's staff is women and minorities.
Ford has targeted firms such as Plastech with its minority development program, in which it invested $1.96 billion last year. The growth of Ford's program demands rapid expansion on the part of these suppliers, said Ford spokeswoman Cheryl Eberwein.
Plastech eventually plans to add an engineering and training center near the Dearborn plant.