By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
ST. JOSEPH – A major economic development project for Berrien County got the greenlight last week from the Berrien County Board of Commissioners. Commissioners also announced a new development on the status of former Berrien Bus employees and that they are looking at the feasibility of returning to in-person meetings.
The economic development project moving forward after county board action is the renovation of the Whirlpool Technical Center in St. Joseph. Commissioners held a public hearing and heard from both Jeff Noel of Whirlpool and Berrien County Community Development Director Dan Fette.
Fette reported on the assistance being provided with the site being in a brownfield area, the basics of the project and what’s next. Noel reiterated the company’s commitment to the Twin Cities and Berrien County and thanked county officials for their help. 
The center’s location is just a few blocks from Lake Michigan and is bordered by Upton, Momany and Renaissance Drives and the railroad tracks. It is over 14 acres in size and currently houses the Whirlpool Global Laundry and Dishwasher Technical Center research facility.
A history of the site provided by Fette showed that it was occupied by the Auto Specialties Manufacturing Company (AUSCO) and the Upton Machine Company from before 1921 to the early 1990s. AUSCO was a foundry and machine shop, while Upton manufactured washing machines and air rifles. Upton was the precursor of Whirlpool.
Fette said plans call for the demolition of the four story 120,000 square foot building on the south end of the parcel and renovating 20,000 square feet of the north wing of the technical center and constructing a new two story 153,000 square foot facility to that north end.
He reported that project will be an important one for the city of St. Joseph and for the larger area. “The significant project investment of over $60 million will result in a sizeable and longterm increase to the municipal tax base and result in the redevelopment of a negatively impacted brownfield property in the heart of the city,” he said.
“The project will create many temporary construction jobs as well as most importantly retain the current 400 fulltime technical center employees whose average individual compensation is $140K annually,” he added.
He noted that the brownfield designation is available for sites like this one where there are environmental contamination issues, in this case petroleum, arsenic, iron and manganese. Over $7.4 million worth of expenditures for activities from assessment and mitigation to demolition and infrastructure can be paid for through tax increment financing.
Fette said Whirlpool also plans to apply for an industrial facilities tax abatement to cover some of the overall costs of the project. The company’s goal is to start work this summer with construction to be completed by the spring of 2023.
Noel said the new facility is needed to help Whirlpool to grow in coming years and decades. “We need this new facility to strategically allow Whirlpool to grow and attract new talent,” he said. “We’ve made an equality pledge and are committed to increase black employment and representation at all levels of the company by 50 percent.”
He noted that Whirlpool is also making a $22 million investment in Benton Harbor to create an 80 unit housing facility. “We need a housing option to help young people who grow up in the area to be able to go away to school and come back and have a job and a place to live,” he said.
“We are the world’s largest home appliance company but really good companies need really great communities and great people,” he added. “Without all three, you don’t have a chance to grow. Southwest Michigan has all three elements. This is our 111th year in the community.”
The Whirlpool investment in the county drew praise from commissioners and County Administrator Brian Dissette. “We applaud this opportunity,” Commissioner Teri Freehling said. “It’s great to see growth and change and moving forward.”
“Today was a big deal with the Whirlpool presentation and the brownfield plan approval, this was something we started working on last July,” Dissette said. “The staff has been working on this for months and months and months. I want to thank the commission for their support and offer compliments to the staff. It was really impressive to get this across the finish line.”
County Commissioner Jim Curran reported on discussions on going back to in-person meetings. The county board has been meeting virtually for more than a year. “We’ve asked Brian Dissette to put together some numbers under current guidelines for the conference room in terms of how many people it would hold,” he said.
“We’re also talking about a hybrid format with some attending virtually and some in person to see how we can eventually come to the goal of meeting in person again at the administration building,” he added. “We will take a look at it and see how we can make it happen.”
As for the Berrien Bus situation, Freehling reported that an arrangement has been worked out with Berrien RESA to contract those employees. The county temporarily took over the operation of the Berrien Bus public transportation service last year when the owner operator, TMI, announced they were going out of business.
Freehling said the Berrien RESA is approving a plan to move those employees under the RESA umbrella starting this summer. The county will then buy back the services of those employees to operate the transportation service.
She said the agreement will come before the full county board in coming weeks. She said it won’t result in changes in services but will create stability for Berrien Bus employees and at the same time maybe save money for the county.
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