$2.6M expansion planned by rapidly growing Muskegon cleaning equipment company
Posted By: mlive on May 25, 2023. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
A rapidly growing cleaning equipment company is doubling its size in Muskegon with a $2.6 million addition.
Pacific Floorcare is constructing a 36,000-square-foot manufacturing facility addition onto its existing building that is of equal size, according to company President Bill Fisher.
The firm manufactures such cleaning equipment as automobile scrubbers, wet vacs, and floor machines, Fisher told the Muskegon City Commission.
The commissioners on Tuesday, May 23, unanimously approved a 12-year, 50% property tax break for the new facility. Taxes paid to school districts, which in this case is Orchard View Schools, are exempt from the tax breaks.
The value of the tax abatement is $39,844 per year, according to information provided to the commission. That equates to about $478,000 over the next 12 years.
The new facility will generate the same amount of new property taxes, as well as an estimated $12,358 annually in new income taxes, according to city information.
“We’re growing rapidly,” Fisher told commissioners. “The reason for the expansion is we have a new product, a very innovative product, that we’re coming to the market with that conceivably can double our business in the next two to three years.”
He added that there’s a “tremendous amount of excitement in our industry” for what he called its new “high-volume product.”
Pacific Floorcare is located at 2259 S. Sheridan Drive in the Port City Industrial Park. The addition is expected to be completed in January 2024, according to the company’s application for the tax exemption.
“We’re excited about the future,” Fisher said. “We’re looking to hire a lot of people from Muskegon.”
Initial estimates are that its 47-employee workforce will grow by another 17 full-time workers. However, that number could grow depending on the new product’s success, Fisher said.
The addition includes a 2,100-square-foot customer training center, according to information provided to the commission.
The 75-year-old company was purchased in 1985 by Larry Hines, president of the Hines Corp. based in Norton Shores, who moved the company to Muskegon from California. The company was Hines’ first purchase, and had been a competitor of Clarke Floor Machine, where Hines previously worked.
Other Hines Corp. companies include Johnston Boiler, located in Ferrysburg; Bennett Pump, located in Spring Lake and China; Cimline Pavement Maintenance, located in Plymouth, Minnesota, and Pearl, Mississippi; and Garlock Safety Systems and Garlock Equipment, located in Plymouth, Minnesota, according to the Hines Corp. website.
Muskegon City Commissioner Rachel Gorman thanked Hines Corp. for its “reinvestment” in the city and noted that it also invests its “time” in city causes.
“I really appreciate not only the investment in the city, but the culture you’re creating at Hines Corp. to be part of our community,” Gorman said. “So, I’m very excited to be voting in favor of this.”
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