Dawn Dayton, director of community relations for Jaytec, the idled manufacturing plant at 5800 Sibley Road, did not deliver good news to the Chelsea City Council on Monday night, Feb. 16.
“At this time, there is no status change for the Chelsea facility,” she said of the shuttered facility.
Last year at this time, she was optimistic that the plant would be back open in the third quarter of 2014. At that time she said Jaytec’s parent company, L and W Engineering, didn’t intend to sell the plant, rather hire employees and reopen it to make assemblies for the auto industry.
A year later, she said not only was there no status change for the Chelsea Plant but that she was scrambling to “save a Grand Ledge facility.”
According to the company’s website, “For 40 years, L and W has been a leading Tier I supplier in the automotive industry specializing in Metal Stampings, Welded Assemblies, Tubular Products, and Hot Stampings. ”
The company was granted an Industrial Facilities Exemption tax abatement through 2020, which allowed the company to renovate or expand facilities and receive a 50-percent reduction in real and personal property taxes. The company was given a $1.53 million exemption for real property and $730,000 for personal property taxes.
Dayton said the renovations were completed and in 2009, the company had up to 113 employees but then in 2012, the company idled the plant.
She said tenants have looked at the building but nothing has come of it. “If you hear of anyone looking (for a facility) let me know,” she told the City Council.
So what does that mean for the tax coffers for Chelsea?
Good question. She made her presentation, no one on council had questions for her and she left. Although the city must approve the application, the state grants the IFT. And I believe that only the state can rescind it.