Detroit is still home to Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd.

There are times when you go to work and feel like you are just beating your head against a wall.  We all have that one project that seems to go on forever.  You think to yourself that if you could just get all the pieces together, all would be right with the world.  Then one day you come into the office, all of the planets are aligned and everything falls into place.  August 14, 2007 was that day for Kenyetta Harriston Bridges (pictured above), Retention Specialist of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.  That’s because on that day, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm announced that Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories Ltd. had decided to invest approximately $14.5 million in a 140,000-square-foot expansion of its manufacturing operations in Detroit rather than relocate out of state. This was the culmination of eight months of  Kenyetta’s hard work on this major retention project. 

This expansion project will create 1,648 jobs, including 598 directly by the company. The partnership between the DEGC team lead by Kenyetta and their counterparts at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation helped convince the company to expand in Michigan over competing sites in North Carolina and South Carolina.  Governor Granholm praised the close partnership between the DEGC and MEDC that resulted in Caraco’s decision.  “Caraco’s decision to invest and create new jobs in Detroit solidifies our reputation as a great place for high-tech companies to do business, this expansion will allow the company to continue to do great things in Detroit and in Michigan.”

An economic analysis conducted by the University of Michigan estimates that increased economic activity created by the expansion will generate an additional 1,050 indirect Michigan jobs, in addition to the 598 created directly by the company.

“The clear message conveyed by Caraco’s decision is that Detroit is an attractive location for innovative companies to grow,” DEGC President George Jackson said. “The company’s new investment will have a major economic impact on the city, and also supports our objective of bringing more young professionals to the community to work and live.” 

Thanks to a concentrated effort by Kenyetta and the rest of the DEGC team, as well as other local and state leaders, another Detroit company will keep growing strong in Detroit!