Toronto-based injection molder Markdom International Inc. will launch a subsidiary in Charlotte, Mich., investing $19 million in a new facility and creating 170 jobs.
The Tier 1 auto supplier will lease a 100,000-square-foot building in an industrial park and expects to begin production later in 2025.
"This new facility marks an important step in our growth," Markdom International CEO Nick Orlando said in a Jan. 9 announcement issued by the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP), the region's economic development organization. "We look forward to creating opportunities for the local workforce and contributing to the region's economic vitality."
Markdom has three plants in Toronto and annual sales estimated at $32 million, placing it at No. 199 among North American injection molders according to Plastics News rankings. It has in-house tooling, injection molding, insert molding and two-shot molding and a fleet of all-electric presses.
The City of Charlotte issued an industrial tax abatement to help lure Markdom International to the area.
LEAP President and CEO Bob Trezise called the company's move a "significant investment in the Lansing region's thriving automotive manufacturing industry.
"This project not only delivers jobs, investment, and resources to our community but also highlights the critical role of supporting smaller towns and rural areas," Trezise said.
Founded in 1976, Markdom International produces plastic components for automakers that include license plate brackets, battery trays and energy absorber brackets.
Emma Bostwick, vice president of business attraction at LEAP, said the Markdom International move shows that the Lansing area can compete internationally for business investments. The company had considered expanding to Ohio, she said.
LEAP had been working with the company for about six months, said Bostwick, who called the Markdom move a "huge win" for the Lansing area that makes a "great alignment" with the local automotive sector.
"Here in the Lansing region, we have such significant investment already from the automotive sector [and] this really secures that," Bostwick told Crain's Grand Rapids Business, a sister publication of Plastics News.
"From the perspective of a foreign direct investment and a global investment, this specifically allows us and demonstrates all of the great qualities that the Lansing area has to offer," she said.