Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette GLS&V CEO Steve Mattson getting set to cut the ribbon during Friday’s ceremony celebrating the completion of the company’s year-long $8.5 million expansion. State Rep. Greg Markkanen is on Mattson’s left; U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman stands to the right.

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP – Several local, state and federal officials were on hand Friday to participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the completion of an $8.5 million facility expansion project at Great Lakes Sounds & Vibration (GLS&V), located near the Houghton County Memorial Airport.

In Feb. 2025, Steve Mattson, GLS&V CEO, announced a 26,000-square-foot expansion of the airpark facility. GLS&V was one of two Houghton County high-tech businesses working in the defense industry to receive expansion grants through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the state of Michigan. The Michigan Strategic Fund awarded Great Lakes Sound & Vibration a $400,000 grant to support the project. The company won a $4.4 million contract from the U.S. Defense Department in 2024.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support of the Michigan Strategic Fund and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation whose investment helped make this expansion reality,” Mattson said at Friday’s ceremony.

GLS&V was established in Portage Township in 1996, with a focus on noise and vibration engineering, primarily for military vehicles and aircraft for the Department of Defense.

It has expanded over the years to include structural design and analysis, custom prototyping, complete exhaust system development, and high-volume manufacturing. GLSV provides complete, customer specific solutions for noise, shock, and vibration problems in the North American defense market.

With assistance from the Northwest Michigan Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), new U.S. government contracts and grants were awarded to GLSV. To fulfill new contracts with military customers, the company in 2019 purchased and rehabbed the former Goodwill Training Center at the Airpark.

“We originally had about 26,000 square feet at this building,” Mattson said. “We bought the building in 2019, and renovated it, and the state supported us in that effort as well. And now this expansion more than doubles the size. So we’re about 60,000 square feet total here.”