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A rendering of MI-HQ’s new high-tech manufacturing facility. Courtesy of MI-HQA new facility under redevelopment by Michigan Innovation Headquarters (MI-HQ) aims to expand high-tech manufacturing opportunities in Scio Township while helping emerging companies scale their operations.
MI-HQ offers specialized facilities catering to the tech industry in an “innovation campus” spanning six locations in the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area. It is currently rehabilitating a former industrial building at 300 N. Zeeb Rd., transforming the long-vacant site into a hub for specialized manufacturing and technology companies. The project is expected to house about 10 companies and create roughly 300 jobs. MI-HQ President Mark Smith says the project reflects his organization’s ongoing mission to support startups as they grow and establish roots in the community.
“MI-HQ has always been a model of supporting companies as they grow,” Smith says. “We try to build companies that will put down roots in our community.”
One of the first companies planning to scale production at the facility is EGI Battery, which currently operates at MI-HQ’s Wagner Road site. The company focuses on lithium-ion and gel-pack batteries designed for high-power, specialized applications such as drones and vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
Construction work in progress on the manufacturing facility. Courtesy of MI-HQThe Zeeb Rd. facility will help its tenant companies move beyond research and development into production. While early-stage work often happens in laboratories, Smith says the new space will help bridge the gap between experimentation and manufacturing.
“A lot of the work in our facilities is in a petri dish or in a lab bench,” Smith says. “This space is for larger-scale manufacturing assembly lines for various specialized products.”
In addition to manufacturing space, the building will include a commercial kitchen operated by a local restaurateur, as well as flexible classrooms that can be used for workforce training or specialized equipment. With several universities and engineering programs nearby, Smith believes the region is well positioned to support both research and manufacturing. MI-HQ plans to collaborate with regional partners, including universities and workforce organizations, to train workers for the advanced manufacturing roles expected to grow from the project.
“Some of our manufacturers have very specific needs as far as skillsets,” Smith says. “It allows us to work with Michigan Works! and others to get workers trained for tasks in a manufacturing facility.”
Smith says the Zeeb Road facility will also include small research labs, office space, and shared infrastructure designed to support high-tech manufacturing. The building will feature common resources such as shipping and receiving docks and clean-air systems that companies across several industries can use. The facility is also intended to foster collaboration among companies working in different fields, including battery technology, pharmaceuticals, and specialty manufacturing.
“We find that diversity in our community actually helps to foster growth,” Smith says. “Different perspectives and opportunities for cross-pollination really drives innovation.”
More information about MI-HQ and its resources is available here.
