December 11, 2003
The Muskegon Chronicle
By Susan K. Treutler

A Whitehall company has secured a multimillion-dollar contract to make auto parts and could eventually be adding six to 12 entry-level jobs as a result.

The Whitehall City Council Tuesday granted a 12-year tax break to Hilite International on the $3.5 million in equipment purchased for the new product line at its subsidiary, Acutex.

The contract could result in new jobs or, at the very least, will initially allow the company to keep 12 people. It will also keep the company's engineers busy working, said Courtland Manns, controller of Hilite -Acutex.

As six to eight employees work on the new product in the first year, and more are subsequently added, openings for entry-level workers in other departments should result, Manns said.

That information seemed to please city council members.

The company, formerly SPX Acutex, employs 230 to 250 people at its plant in the Whitehall Industrial Park.

Councilman Roger Westrate said he was wary of giving a 12-year, 50-percent tax break on equipment that will depreciate in value, but the council has, via past practice, allowed that length of time.

He said unless the council wanted to go in another direction, it should grant the tax break. The vote was unanimous.
The equipment, city officials believe, will be valued at $200,000 or more at the end of the 12 years.

If it depreciates faster, or the company does not keep its employment levels up, the city could cancel the abatement and require reimbursement for the full tax levy.

Tax abatements are given to industries in an effort to spur employment or maintain employees and to keep industries from moving to communities where they can operate cheaper. The 50-percent cut in taxes applies to all taxing authorities, including schools and the county.

There were no objections to the abatement presented at a public hearing on the issue Tuesday.

The company, which has been in the industrial park since 1988, will begin making a new line of products for transmissions in April under an eight-year contract with Eaton Corp.

The contract comes after a yearlong "slowdown," Manns said. The company, however, has kept on an even keel and has not incurred layoffs.

The contract for the product, to be used in General Motors vehicles, is a boon for the company and for Whitehall, according to Manns.

The company traditionally makes solenoids, parts that tell the automatic transmission when to shift. The product is "embedded" within the transmission.

But the company needed the $3.5 million in new equipment to make a new solenoid which is engineered to be installed outside the transmission. It will direct the vehicle's cylinders, and save fuel. The solenoid, to be used on V-8 engines, also reduces emissions into the environment, Manns said.

"This is cutting edge," Manns said of the new product.

© 2003 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission