PORT HURON, MI — A long-discussed industrial project is moving forward in Port Huron, where US Farathane plans to build a new logistics center in the city’s industrial park.
City Manager James Freed said the project is planned for Dove Street near 24th Street. He said the project represents about a $30 million investment and will include a 200,000-square-foot building.
“It will be the largest structure in the industrial park,” Freed said.
US Farathane already operates a manufacturing site at 2133 Petit St. in Port Huron. Freed said the new logistics center is expected to support the company’s existing local operations, protect about 560 jobs already in the city and bring additional jobs.
Freed did not have an estimate for the number of new jobs expected from the project.
“This was important because we believe that this additional investment will protect those jobs that are already here as well,” Freed said.
Freed said the project has been in the works since before the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he and then-Mayor Pauline Repp traveled to Auburn Hills years ago to pitch Port Huron for the project.
“We’ve been fighting for this project for that long,” Freed said.
Freed said Port Huron was competing with Texas, Ohio, Auburn Hills, Tennessee and Mexico to land the investment.
Freed said the county’s Economic Development Alliance was critical in landing the project and had been working on it for years. The EDA was not available to respond in time for publication.
Freed said he believes the State of Michigan also put together an incentive package for the project, but additional details were not immediately available.
US Farathane did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company’s planned Dove Street site comes as Port Huron continues to see new investment in housing and industrial development. Freed said the logistics center is expected to help position the company for future growth in the city’s industrial park.
Without the logistics project, Freed said there was concern the company could have moved work tied to its existing local operations to another campus.
“This is about protecting those jobs,” Freed said.
Freed said the company intends to have the logistics center built and operational in about 11 months.
Contact reporter Andy Jeffrey at ajeffrey@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: US Farathane plans $30M logistics center in Port Huron industrial park
Reporting by Andy Jeffrey, Port Huron Times Herald / Port Huron Times Herald
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By Andy Jeffrey, Port Huron Times Herald | USA TODAY Network
