I love summer.  I especially love summer in Michigan.

Michigan has some fabulous summer festivities.  This week alone, I’ve been to the Baby Food Festival in Fremont, the Ionia Free Fair, and tonight, the Bay City Tall Ships Celebration.  And I must say, Michiganians know how to celebrate!!

As much as I love the corn dogs at our outstanding festivals, the celebrations I love even more are the ones involving jobs.  This morning, I attended the BioPort cornerstone unveiling in Lansing.  BioPort Corporation, a subsidiary of Emergent BioSolutions, is the nation’s only FDA-approved manufacturer of the anthrax vaccine in the United States. 

The company announced in February that it would invest $75 million to build a new 50,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Lansing retaining 952 Michigan jobs, including up to 322 directly by the company. The expansion was made possible by a single business tax credit offered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).  The company was considering expanding in Maryland but chose to stay and grow with us in Michigan, and we are so glad they did!  The new building construction was going on behind us as the ceremony played out.  And let me tell you, the facilities are looking phenomenal, and I can’t wait to see the finished product.

It is high-tech companies like BioPort we want to magnetize to Michigan.  As a leader in the biodefense industry, BioPort will serve as a critical anchor in our efforts to diversify into homeland security and defense through our 21st Century Jobs Fund.  I continue to fight for every worker, every job, and every family in Michigan, and I will not give up on this battle.  Stay tuned…