Another Banner Year for the Great Lakes Region as 134 Grassroot Industrial Plants Open Their Doors

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). When 2005 comes to an end in approximately six weeks, the Great Lakes Region will have been host to another very successful year, not only in terms of industrial capital and maintenance spending, but also with the number of grassroot plants that have become operational.

Between 2000 and 2002, almost 400 grassroot plants began operations in the Great Lakes region. In 2003 and 2004, those grassroot plant numbers dropped to 90 and 86, respectively. However, 2005 appears to be the year that the region gets back on track. At this time, 134 grassroot plants have started operations or are scheduled to begin operations by the end of the year, a significant increase from the last two years.

Click on the image at right to view a chart showing the breakdown of new plants by year.

Illinois was the new plant leader for the Great Lakes Region in 2005, with over 40 plants opening their doors. Michigan was a distant second with 25 new plants, while Indiana, Kentucky and Wisconsin all tied for third having twenty new plants begin operations. Ohio was a disappointment with only sixteen new plants coming online during the year.

In terms of new jobs, almost 13,000 jobs were created in the region by these new plants. Michigan was the big winner in the job race adding almost 3,400 new jobs during 2005. Illinois came in second place with 2,500 jobs and Wisconsin in third at just under 2,400. Ohio, while it came in last in new plant totals, managed to create just over 1,400 new jobs leaving Indiana to claim the last place slot with 830 jobs.

As to where these new plants and jobs are coming from, the Industrial Manufacturing industry was leading the charge with over 60 grassroot plants beginning operations during the year. This represents over 8,400 new jobs for the industry. The Food & Beverage industry ran a distant second with twenty new plants representing over 1,000 new jobs, while the Power industry, Pharmaceuticals & Biotech industry and the Chemicals industry all tied for third with ten new plants each. Those three industries combined to provide just over 2,800 new jobs to the region.

Right now, capital and maintenance spending numbers are forecast to increase in 2006, and 207 new industrial plants are scheduled to come online. For example, General Motors (NYSE:GM) (Detroit, Michigan) new general assembly and body shop facilities in Lansing, Michigan are scheduled to come online toward the end of 2006.

Plant management contacts, addresses, and phone numbers for the newly operational plants mentioned in this article, as well as 7,000 established operational industrial plants are available via Industrialinfo.com’s Great Lakes Online Plant Directory. Click on the image at right to try out a free demo today!

Industrial Information Resources (IIR) is a Marketing Information Service company that has been doing business for over 22 years. IIR is respected as a leader in providing comprehensive market intelligence pertaining to the industrial processing, heavy manufacturing, and energy-related industries throughout the world.