A partnership effort between the city and the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County has renamed the 275-acre plot the Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park.
Having employed thousands of St. Clair County residents since the early 1970s, the park has been through plenty of change over the last several decades. But, as the products engineered by the park’s businesses became more advanced, City Manager James Freed says the park’s image had to change too.
“You know, calling it an industrial park, that’s what it used to be, but the level of sophistication and technology, I mean, it’s all advanced manufacturing technology,” he says. “These are high skilled jobs of high-paying jobs that are now out there.”
James Freed, Port Huron’s City Manager.
Freed calls the park the “lifeblood” of the Port Huron area and home to many corporations. Some are established by companies from overseas, while others are owned locally.
Most of the park consists of automotive suppliers whose recent shift into autonomous vehicle production has helped the city stay at the center of the industry.
“These jobs are what provides the kitchen table issues for our residents, provides some opportunity and prosperity,” Freed says. “But additionally, it’s made Port Huron leaders in automotive technology and autonomous vehicles in the last couple of years, really putting us on the map.”
The full list of companies included in the park is, in alphabetical order, as follows:
ALD Thermal Treatment, Inc., Aludyne, Attica Manufacturing Inc., Auto Anodics Inc., Black River Manufacturing, Inc., Blue Water Glass, Buckland Global Trade Services, Inc., Earl Smith Distributing Co., Edison Manufacturing and Engineering, Eissmann Automotive Port Huron LLC, Gielow Pickles, Greene Group Industries, Huron Industries Inc., IAC Port Huron L: LC, Johnstone Supply, Lake Huron Storage, Michigan Industrial Products, Michigan Metal Castings Company, P.J. Wallbank Springs Inc., Plastic Dress-Up Service, Inc., PMR Industries, Inc., Pregis (Port Huron), R&E Automated Systems, S&H Sorting & Packaging, Inc., Shawmut LLC, Tapex American Corp., US Farathane Port Huron, LLC and Wirco Products, Inc.
Although there’s been rapid growth for several years, Vice President of Business Services for the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County Bruce Seymore says there’s always room for the park to advance even further.
Bruce Seymore, Vice President of Business Services for Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County.
His office meets regularly with the park’s manufacturers, getting to know their goals and outlook for the future. When a need is not being met, he works to connect them with the resources they need to find success.
Seymore continues his role in rebranding the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Park.
“I think the rebranding is a great way to show that manufacturing has changed,” Seymore says. “It isn’t what a lot of people thought it was 15, 20 years ago, you know, dark, dirty, you’re standing there doing the same thing over and over again.”
Like Freed, Seymore testifies to the advancements that have taken place at the park, including the addition of computer technology and artificial intelligence. He says the investment means a longer life for the companies held within the park, keeping them competitive with other industry hubs across the country and beyond.
Not everything about this park measures up to its competitors — in some ways, Freed and Seymore say it exceeds them.
The park is a designated international trade zone, which means goods from overseas can be moved into the country, assembled into a product inside the U.S. border, and then moved back out of the country, without paying taxes.
In addition to the international trade zone, the park is home to a SmartZone, one of 21 in Michigan.
“So it’s a whole suite of unique tools that we have that no one else has, which we’re leveraging,” Freed says. “We have now almost more than 2,000 new jobs, about a quarter million dollars in investment in just the last five years out there, so it’s proven to be successful.”
Overhead view of the Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park in Port Huron.
As far as the potential for success in the future, Seymore says the outlook is good for most of the companies residing in the park, particularly because of its ability to provide local, stable jobs to people living in the greater St. Clair County area.
The park is about three miles from the I-69 and I-94 freeway interchange, bordered by Petit and Dove Street on the city’s south side. Seymore says this makes it more easily accessible than a manufacturing job in a neighboring county.
“One of the benefits of its location to the south end of Port Huron is that it’s conveniently located on the bus lines, and so local residents in the city and in nearby communities can jump on the bus to ride into the businesses that they work at,” Seymore says. “Also, there’s plenty of individuals that carpool together to come in.”
While the effort to rebrand the park sends the message that it is not tied to its past, Seymore says the park is in many ways connected to what it used to be, keeping alive some manufacturers that have been there since the beginning.
As the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County and the city of Port Huron continue to highlight what they believe makes the Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park modern and unique, Seymore and Freed are hoping to inspire residents to see a familiar place through new eyes.