HOUGHTON – The Michigan Economic Development Corporation & Travel Michigan (MEDC) said that nondisclosure agreements signed in 2021 between the MEDC and a number of state lawmakers had nothing to do with the General Motors Corporation, but were agreements between the MEDC and lawmakers.

“There were NDAs in place with the MEDC and a select number of state lawmakers, so they could talk about projects in our pipeline that would require new incentive tools like the new strategic outreach and retention programs,” said Otie McKinley, MEDC media and communications manager.

The NDAs, he said, were signed with select lawmakers, so that the MEDC could read them into some projects that could potentially look at Michigan, that would require a different type of business attraction tool.

“That led to the legislation being passed,” McKinley said, “the governor signing into law the SOAR Fund.”

A few weeks later, he said, the Michigan Strategic Fund approved the GM project using some of the SOAR funding.

The bipartisan Strategic Outreach Reserve (SOAR) package was signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Dec. 20, 2021. A statement from the Governor’s Office said House Bill 4603 was written to create a $1 billion economic development fund to ensure the state can compete for billions of dollars in investment and attract tens of thousands of jobs to bolster our economy. The governor signed Senate Bill 771 to create a $500 million fund to make Michigan’s economy more adaptable to the rapid pace of technological change, supporting small businesses, and creating or retaining good-paying jobs. Additionally, the governor signed Senate Bill 769 to create a financing mechanism for both programs and Senate Bill 85 to provide full funding to” start delivering for Michiganders right away”. SB 85 will also provide direct assistance to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This transformative economic development package will build on Michigan’s growing economic momentum.

McKinley said there are people who believe in incentives business and there are people who do not.

“The fact of the matter is,” said McKinley, “this project brought 4,000 new jobs and retained 1,000 jobs.”

The business expansion in Lake Orion, in Lansing, has state-wide ripple effects, he said, including additional tax base for the state, as well as benefits to the suppliers and the suppliers’ suppliers.

“If looking at nothing else, it (will) generate almost $30 billion in generated tax over 20 years as a result of employment of this project.”

The Dec. 20, 2021 statement from the Governor’s Office said that the MEDC has several transformational projects in its pipeline that would invest billions of dollars into Michigan, create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs for Michigan residents, and continue the state’s strong economic growth. These programs will support business retention and attraction efforts across regions through improved site readiness efforts and create a new “home court” advantage for automotive, electric vehicle, and advanced manufacturing growth in the state.