DELHI TWP. — An expansion at Molded Plastics Industries, a manufacturing company founded almost 50 years ago in Holt, was one of three celebrated last week by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Michigan Economic Development Corporation officials.

The expansions are expected to create 294 new jobs and bring “$34.8 million of investment home to Michigan,” they said in a Thursday press release.

The expansion predictions are for Molded Plastics Industries on Jarco Drive to create 36 new jobs with a $6.8 million capital investment; Visioneering Inc. in Auburn Hills to create 238 new jobs with a $25 million capital investment; and Carter Associates in St. Joseph County to add 20 new jobs with a $3 million capital investment.

“Today’s investments will create hundreds of good-paying jobs and build on our economic momentum,” Whitmer said. “Michigan-based companies are continuing to believe in and invest in Michigan, creating opportunities across the state and driving our unemployment rate down to a 23-year low.”

Since 1974, Molded Plastics Industries has been manufacturing custom molded fiberglass and thermoplastic products for electric and specialty vehicles and medical industries.

Acquired by Troy-based National Composites in 2019, it now employs 51 in Michigan. Officials chose to expand in Holt over competing sites in other states “due to the company’s history and existing talent base in the state,” according to the Whitmer and MEDC press release.

Expansion plans for 13 acres near its existing Jarco Drive facility involve the addition of new fiberglass processing and “CNC” machining equipment. The company has been awarded “several substantial new programs in the healthcare and electrical vehicle markets” that require production space not yet available at the company’s Holt facility, state officials said.

“The Lansing region, and Michigan, are an electric vehicle manufacturing and supply chain hot spot,” said Bob Trezise, president and CEP of the Lansing Economic Area Partnership. “MPI’s expansion in the region is a vital addition as the Lansing region rapidly builds the future of mobility.”

The project was awarded an $125,000 Michigan Business Development Program grant.

Contact editor Susan Vela at svela@lsj.com or 248-873-7044. Follow her on Twitter @susanvela.