St. Clair Shores

More contracts to bring more jobs to Fisher Dynamics

By Kristyne E. Demske
C & G Staff Writer

Business is going well at a local automotive supplier.

“Yes, business is good,” said Alfred Fisher III, chairman of Fisher Dynamics. “We have received numerous contracts since I was here at the very first (step) of this process.”

Fisher was at the Dec. 17 City Council meeting to request additional time to complete the project that led to the company receiving an industrial facility tax exemption at the end of 2010. At that time, Fisher Dynamics was installing new machinery and equipment in anticipation of new automotive contracts for back seat assembly. The company had two years to complete construction.

But since then, the company has obtained contracts for front-seat assembly, which required an additional investment. Because of that, Fisher Dynamics was looking for an additional year to complete the project, as well as to increase the tax exemption from $8.8 million to $14.6 million.

“They’re allowed to go up to over 10 percent of the original cost,” said City Assessor Teri Socia. “They were awarded some additional contracts that were going to throw them way over the original (cost projections).”

The certificate allows the company a 50 percent exemption on real and personal property taxes for 12 years, although the company still has to pay the state education millage. In 2012, Fisher Dynamics had $27,711.97 exempt from its city tax bill; it paid the same amount.

Fisher said the company has hired 155 employees just in the past year for the new investment and decided to hire another 70 employees in the next three months to keep up with the additional work.

“We’re excited about the business that’s coming; we’re excited about the employment that this investment has been yielding,” he said. “We enjoy what we do up there on 14 Mile, and we just look forward to continuing to expand.”

City Council unanimously approved the additional exemption and the time extension. The tax exemption certificate will still expire, however, as planned, Dec. 31, 2022. The extension only affected how long the business had to complete the project.

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Kristyne E. Demske at kdemske@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1041.