MiMfg Magazine January 2020 | Page 24

24 MiMfg Magazine January 2020 MFG @ Work What’s Happening in Michigan Manufacturing Corteva to Invest $145M in Midland Corteva Inc., previously the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, announced a $145 million capital investment to its Midland manufacturing facility which will expand global capacity for Corteva’s high-demand insect management technology for the natural products market. According to the company release, the capacity expansion project was initiated in response to consistently high demand for Corteva’s Spinosyns products, including Spinetoram and Spinosad. Staged to come online over the next few years, the new production will enable Corteva to increase its existing Spinosyns capacity by 30 percent — addressing the needs of customers in the more than 100 countries into which these solutions are sold around the world for use on more than 100 different crops. “[This] announcement underscores our commitment to taking targeted actions that are good for our customers and help to drive sustainable results for business,” said Susanne Wasson, Corteva Crop Protection Business President. Wasson continued, “This investment enables Corteva to better serve our customers around the world by expanding access to much-needed insect management solutions.” Both Spinosad and Spinetoram have been awarded the U.S. EPA Green Chemistry Challenge Award — which recognizes novel chemistry solutions that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture and use. The team from Corteva Agriscience celebrates the new Corteva Michigan Office and Health Center in Midland during a June 2019 ribbon-cutting. This investment is expected to generate more than $100 million of annual EBITDA for Corteva once fully online. Michigan Receives U.S. SBA Top Award for Trade Expansion Michigan again received the top award in the nation from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) for fiscal year 2020. Now in its ninth year, Michigan received the maximum amount of $900,000 — a $100,000 increase from 2019. “Export sales help diversify companies’ customer bases, provide longer term stability and can support higher paying jobs,” said Jeff Mason, CEO of the Michigan Economic Got Good News? Share your company’s news with MMA and see it published here, through our social media channels or on mimfg.org . Send your photos, press releases and good news to MMA’s Brett Gerrish at [email protected]. Development Corporation. “This year’s STEP grant is once again the largest award in the nation, reflecting the Small Business Administration’s strong confidence in Michigan’s successful execution of export promotion to increase international sales.” The Michigan Strategic Fund is providing an additional $300,000 to support the Michigan STEP initiative. MI-STEP is designed to spur job creation by increasing the number of Michigan small businesses that export, increasing the dollar value of Michigan exports, and increasing the number of Michigan small businesses exploring significant new trade opportunities, including expansion of existing export markets. Since 2011, STEP has facilitated more than $3 billion in export sales through federal and non-federally funded programs. In fiscal year 2018, export sales generated a total of $641.5 million. Over 300 companies received assistance through Michigan’s export grant programs, with 560 fully executed grants and 100 percent of funds disbursed directly to companies.