In a good sign for the still-struggling state, manufacturers continue to make strong commitments to Michigan. The latest example comes in Auburn Hills, Mich., a city in the metro Detroit area. Faurecia, the sixth-largest automotive supplier in the country, has chosen this community as the home for its new North American headquarters.
This isn’t surprising. Faurecia has long been a presence in Oakland County, the county in which Auburn Hills sits. This presence includes three current offices in the city.
Once the company’s new North American headquarters biding is complete in the first quarter of 2014, two of the Auburn Hills offices and a technical center located in Troy, Mich., will move to the new building. The third Auburn Hills Faurecia office will remain open.
The new headquarters will be a significant addition to the Auburn Hills business community. It will cover 278,000 square feet in three stories. The building, in the Oakland Technology Park, will eventually be home to 700 employees. These employees will work in the company’s core business groups: automotive seating, emissions control technologies, interior systems and automotive exteriors.
Pete Auger, city manager with Auburn Hills, said that the auto industry and its suppliers have long been key components of the area’s economic health. The expansion by Faurecia is just the latest example, he said.
“This industry, including the suppliers who serve it, has always had a special role in our community,” Auger said. “They’ve had an extremely positive economic impact on the area.”
And why do companies like Faurecia like to do business in Auburn Hills and Oakland County? Faurecia points to a pro-business environment that has remained consistent over the years.
“We don’t have a lot of upheaval with our government here. We’re steady,” Auger said. “And we have a reputation for being pro-business and pro-growth. We work with the businesses and manufacturers who locate here. We don’t get them here and then forget about them.”
Faurecia has called Auburn Hills home for a decade. And its North American president, Michael Heneka, said in a written statement that he is excited to make an even stronger commitment to the community.
“As the auto industry has reinvented itself over the past few years, Faurecia has been a notable success story,” said Heneka in his statement. “We have grown substantially. Our new location presents a distinctive opportunity to build from the ground up in a way that most suits our needs.”
