Two international manufacturers who met with Oakland County economic developers at the SelectUSA Investment Summit in Washington D.C. confirmed they will establish business locations in Oakland County.
The announcements come little more than a month after the companies APAG Elektronik AG and Promac met with the Oakland County business development team. Within a week of meeting with the Oakland County team, company representatives were in Oakland County in search of potential sites.
"These companies have seen what a thousand others who came before them saw that Oakland County is the best market for international investment," Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said. "We are proud of the business climate we've created for international companies and the infrastructure available to support their business. We welcome these two fine companies to Oakland County."
The companies are:
- Promac, an Italian-based automotive supplier, plans to open its first North American facility in Troy. The company produces parts for many industries, including aviation, aerospace, energy, precision prototypes and complex machining.
- APAG Elektronik AG is a Zurich, Switzerland-based electronics design and manufacturing firm. The company confirmed plans to open a sales office in Troy in mid-2015 and is considering an electronics manufacturing facility in 2016. The company is currently using space in the Automation Alley International Business Center.
SelectUSA is a program housed in the U.S. Department of Commerce and encourages international investment in the United States. More than 70 countries attended the two-day event.
In SelectUSA, the county saw an opportunity to sell newcomers on Oakland County. A four-person team including Deputy County Executive Matthew Gibb and economic development Director Irene Spanos attended the two-day event in March. The team, who partnered with the Michigan Economic Development Corp. for the event, met with more than 50 international companies from Asia, Europe and Canada who expressed a desire to expand into the United States.
"Congratulations to Promac and APAG Elektronik AG on their decisions to invest in the United States, and thank you to the team at Oakland County for putting the hard work into attracting these investments," said Ambassador Vinai Thummalapally, executive director of SelectUSA. "Job-creating investments like these show that companies from all over the world recognize the opportunities offered by the United States. I'm pleased that the SelectUSA Summit helped make these investments possible."
The county has long prided itself on the international diversity of its business community, with 1,000 international firms from 39 countries having business locations here. In 2014, foreign direct investment totaled over $171 million more than a quarter of the $658 million total business investment in the county. The investment created 1,941 jobs. In 2014, more than two international businesses a month either expanded or located in Oakland County.
Published: Fri, May 15, 2015
