FROM RUST BELT TO GREEN BELT
Beset by falling sales and onerous legacy costs, all three major automotive manufacturers combined
have closed nearly two dozen auto plants in the United States since 2004, with 16 more plants likely to
be shut down by 2011.
Fraught with environmental liabilities, complexity, and sheer size, finding a second life for such
facilities is a formidable task. Yet there are signs of a transformation beginning to take place.
First opened in 1957, Ford’s massive, 320-acre Wixom Assembly Plant in southeast Michigan was one
of the company’s largest auto manufacturing sites, producing more than 6 million total vehicles until it
was permanently shuttered
in 2007. At its peak, the
plant employed more than
5,000 workers, making
Thunderbirds, Town Cars,
GTs, and other Ford models.
Despite Ford’s initial difficulty in finding a buyer for
the mega-complex, last summer two “green sector” companies announced a planned
$725 investment that would
repurpose about a third of
the former factory into the
largest renewable energy
park in America. Clairvoyant
Energy aims to eventually
produce solar panels in
Wixom, while Xtreme Power
will make large-scale batteries
and systems that store wind
and solar energy for quick
release into the electric grid.
Despite facing regulatory
and financial hurdles in finalizing the purchase, the redevelopment project is expected
to gain approval and move
forward by the end of the
year, moving the rust belt one
step closer to an emerging
green belt.
Shelby County,
Indiana
Where great opportunities await
your business —
and family!
BUSINESS FRIENDLY:
• Centrally located between
Indianapolis and Cincinnati
• 20 minutes to Indianapolis
metro area
• Easy access to: I-74,
I- 65, State Road 9 and
State Road 44
• 40 minutes to Indianapolis
International Airport;
70 minutes to Greater
Cincinnati Airport
• Local government that
is pro-business
FAMILY FRIENDLY:
• Excellent schools
• Recreational amenities
(including the new Blue River Park)
• A great place to call home!
Shelby County
Development Corporation
16 Public Square, Suite A, Shelbyville, IN 46176
Phone: 317-398-8903 / Fax: 317-398-8915
Dan Theobald, Executive Director
e-mail: d.theobald@shelbydevelopment.com
www.shelbydevelopment.com
