The Great Lakes Composite Institute is working with Bay Mills Community College to train students in manufacturing, along with creating prototypes and new products for manufacturers like those in the auto industry.
With an eye to the future,
Bay Mills Community College is hoping its efforts will pay off and it will be able to bring some badly needed jobs to the Eastern Upper Peninsula by investing time and expertise into the Great Lakes Composite Institute.
The institute is working with manufacturing companies, particularly in the automotive industry, to provide them with prototypes they hope will turn into production contracts. BMCC president Mickey Parish is optimistic their efforts will soon pay off.
"I'm quite confident we can get something into production by the end of the summer," says Parish. He says they are currently in talks with three or four different companies and hope to hear something within the next three months.
Parish says the approach of the GLCI is to produce samples or prototypes of products companies are looking for, a process that is a reverse of what they were doing before, when they made a product and hoped someone would be interested in it.
"We've been putting together sample panels according to what a company wants; we send samples to companies, they test them for strength and to see if they can put a good finish on them--this is what they want," says Parish.
The enterprise got a big boost recently with the addition of Chris Griffin, Ph.D., who joined the institute in September. Griffin comes with over-the-top credentials: extensive education in mechanical engineering, plus more than 30 years working with automotive manufacturers.
Griffin, who splits his time between the U.P. and downstate where he is cultivating industry contacts in the Detroit area, says some of the prototypes are in the second phase of testing, a hopeful sign, he says, that a contract is on the horizon. The institute needs a contract to move forward as a company and potential training program for BMCC students.
Right now the focus is on product testing. To this end, GLCI is working with grant funding from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to purchase testing equipment for the facility. The idea is to produce prototypes that can stand up to production, rather than trying to convince companies with a pile of data.
It may be premature to talk about expansion, but officials at the institute say one good contract would cramp their quarters, currently next to Cloverland Electric on M-28 and a stone's throw from Interstate I-75. The building houses three production lines and two laminators, with the ability to produce more than 9 million square feet of tape per year. The tape can be used to reinforce anything from pipes to industry specific automotive parts.
Two employees currently work the composite line, both under the supervision of Griffin. Hopefully, this will increase to more paying jobs as the plant is awarded contracts.
The eventual goal of BMCC is to develop a curriculum around the Great Lakes Composite Institute facility. Parish says training for students would start once production is taking place. He hopes a curriculum will be set by this fall.
BMCC and the Bay Mills tribe have been involved with this project since 2007; recently BMCC has taken more of the lead since they've hired Griffin. Parish's dream is that some day there will be jobs for the community, training for BMCC students, and the company will be lucrative enough that the Bay Mills Indian Community and BMCC can recoup their investment.
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