The Dow Chemical Company went before Midland's City Council on October 1 seeking P.A. 198 tax abatements for six new projects representing expansion into new markets as well as reinvestment into existing business units. Several of the projects are currently in the planning stages and all still require final approval from state and local authorities. If all the projects are approved and continue to move forward, they will invest $203 million into the local economy and create and retain 106 jobs.

The proposed projects are as follows:

• The Dow Automotive Project, a new automotive filter manufacturing capacity, will rehabilitate 85,200 square feet of idle process space in three Dow facilities. It is expected to create 55 new jobs and invest $86 million into the local economy. The project is redeveloping Brownfield space and is seeking to secure Brownfield credits against the Michigan Business Tax.
• Dow Building Solutions is an opportunity in the renewable energy sector to further develop new solar cell technology into the design of building materials known as Building Integrated Photovoltaics. The project will create 22 new jobs and invest $53.5 million into the local economy.
• The Divinylbenzene Capacity Expansion Project involves rehabilitation of chemical processing equipment to achieve increased energy savings and reliability. The project will retain 12 jobs and invest $6.3 million into the local economy.
• The Aminopyralid Capacity Expansion is a project of Dow AgroSciences, LLC. It will add new chemical processing equipment to help produce aminopyralid, a recently introduced Dow AgroSciences compound for the control of noxious and invasive weed species. It will create five new jobs and invest $38.5 million.
• The Michigan Operations Supply Chain Infrastructure Upgrade will add and rehabilitate warehousing and raw material bulk storage at Dow's Michigan Operations site for increased logistical efficiency. It will be a long-term competitive solution for their warehousing and bulk storage needs. The project will retain five jobs and invest $11.5 million.
• Dow Automotive will create brake fluid blending, packaging, storage and shipping capacity at Michigan Operations, establishing it as the base of operations for Dow's brake fluids business. The project will retain seven jobs and invest $7.1 million.

All Dow's projects are expected to begin between 2007 and early 2008 if all the necessary approvals are received, with completion dates for the approved projects ranging from late 2007 to early 2009.

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