It was another busy day full of encouraging visits with businesses that have chosen to grow with us here in Michigan.

First, I had a chance to stop in and see our friends at Hemlock Semiconductor, which announced a major expansion last fall.  They took us on a tour through their existing facility and the construction site. The place is so vast; we had to take a bus in order to tour the whole facility! I was thrilled to see the work they are doing in the Saginaw area. HSC products range from solar panels for alternative energy, to those small chips that go in your cell phone. The company plans to invest $327 million in Michigan over the next three years, creating an additional 436 jobs. I was proud to come together with local officials, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Department of Environmental Quality, and Consumers Energy to keep this thriving corporation right here in Michigan.

Later in the afternoon, I was off to Bay City to meet with Carbone America, another company choosing to expand in Michigan. We got right down to the dirty work—literally—as I had the duty of digging a little bit of soil at the company’s groundbreaking ceremony. Carbone America is a French-based company and an international leader in the electronics industry (Finally, I had a use for all those years of high school French classes). They produce carbon brushes that that are used in diesel electric railways, mining and metalworking industries, paper mills and chemical plants, airplanes, and in European high-speed trains. Carbone plans to invest $2.5 million to add approximately 12,500 square feet of space and create 15 new jobs. This international industry leader recognized all that the Bay City community and Michigan had to offer, which means more continued investment in our state!

Visiting these successful companies keeps me energized and optimistic about the future of the Great Lakes State, and I am honored to be leading this fight that is turning our Michigan around. I will continue to fight for our jobs and our workers, and I want people around the globe to know that Michigan is ready and rearing to do business with them too!