100+ new jobs projected from incentives | News

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - Two Grand Rapids-area businesses are receiving incentives from the state of Michigan for expansions that will lead to about 100 new jobs.

The Right Place announced with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) the incentives Thursday.

ArcticAx US Ltd. received a $220,000 incentive for a new $1.9 million site in the American Seating Park in Grand Rapids.  ArcticAx will build a new bio-life science startup lab. ArcticAx holds exclusive property in the area of macular degeneration, a condition that results in total or partial blindness.  28 new local jobs are expected at the lab.

ArcticAx chose Michigan over New York for their site.

In Walker, Quality Edge, Inc. received a $310,000 incentive for a $10.5 million local expansion that will created about 78 new jobs over the next three years.  Quality Edge makes residential building products and will use the incentive to expand its Walker operations and start a new metal roofing product line that will be sold nationwide in 2012.

Quality Edge is currently in 240,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Walker and will be breaking ground on an additional 80,000 this summer to make room for their new equipment and employees. The company plans to add a variety of jobs for this project including: technical, craftsman, managerial, professional, and multiple machine operator positions.

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