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Mission Design & Automation wraps $5M expansion

Mission Design & Automation is opening a new 50,000-square-foot facility next month and plans to add at least 109 high-tech jobs.

The Holland-based custom industrial automation and robotics integrator Mission Design & Automation said last week that it is completing a new facility at 9696 Black River Court in Holland that will house office and manufacturing space for large-scale automation projects.

Grand Rapids-based Pioneer Construction currently is wrapping up construction, and the facility is set to be fully online by July.

This represents Mission’s first expansion since the company was founded in 2004.

The project involved a total investment of over $5 million and is anticipated to create at least 109 new jobs in West Michigan, the company said. Mission is hiring for various positions, including mechanical engineers, controls engineers, applications engineers, machine builders and more.

“Bringing work to West Michigan allows us to continue to support the community through partnerships with local universities and high schools through co-op and apprenticeship programs,” said Ryan Lillibridge, Mission’s director of business development. “It also means more high-tech employment opportunities for our community. Our customers are the reason we are successful, and this facility with its dedicated space for R&D and larger machine capacity will allow us to improve manufacturing processes for our customers and provide the collaborative spaces required to develop the solutions they need now and in the future.”

Lakeshore Advantage, the economic development agency for Ottawa and Allegan counties, connected the company with state and local resources to support its growth.

“West Michigan is a hotspot for Industry 4.0. With over 40% of our region’s GDP coming from manufacturing, the customer base is here, and the significant growth local automation solutions providers are experiencing is proof that area manufacturers are adopting smart manufacturing processes,” said Jennifer Owens, Lakeshore Advantage president. “Jobs of the future, on the cutting edge of manufacturing technology, are available right here at innovative automation companies including Mission Design & Automation, and (at) their customers who implement these tech solutions. We congratulate Mission Design & Automation on their future focus and growth in our region.”

The Michigan Strategic Fund of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) also is supporting this project with an estimated $400,000 grant for job training through the Jobs Ready Michigan program administered by the MEDC.

West Michigan Works! also will provide $382,220 in jobs training assistance to support the increase in employment Mission will experience due to its growth.

Holland Charter Township voted to support Mission’s expansion through a 12-year industrial facilities tax exemption at its meeting last week.

Posted By: Grand Rapids Business Journal on June 8, 2021.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.

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