Consolidated Biscuit Company closes on purchase of Tecumseh Products property

Consolidated Biscuit Company (CBC) held a closing Friday on the purchase of the former Tecumseh Products property.  The long awaited announcement secures the Ohio-based company’s intention to invest $12 million at the local plant with the creation of 500 new jobs.

“This is good news for all of us,” said Paula Holtz, director of the city’s Economic Development Department. Holtz, together with city manager Kevin Welch and Mayor Harvey Schmidt have worked to help facilitate the CBC’s acquisition.

"Something like this doesn't happen without the hard work and dedication of a lot of people, specifically the folks at the Tecumseh Products and Consolidated Biscuit Company," said Schmidt. "People at the state and federal level  put a lot of effort into this, and Kevin and Paula really did their best for us. Now we have the potential for 500 jobs scheduled within the next five years. Every new job is a good one and we are very pleased with this," he said.

In September 2008 Holtz and Welch attended a meeting of the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) board which approved a 10-year $5.4 million tax credit to CBC along with a 12-year tax abatement from the Tecumseh City Council that gives the company a savings of $867,000.

CBC, a 45-year-old company, currently operates nine plants in five states, employing 3,500 workers. The average weekly wage projected by CBC for the Tecumseh facility will be $484 with funding of $125,000 from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) for job training.