A Mysterious Manufacturing Plant, The Country's Largest, Is Planned For Mid-Michigan

A multibillion-dollar industrial project is in planning stages in mid-Michigan’s Shiawassee County that would rank as the country’s largest manufacturing plant if completed, but details are scarce.

“Project Tim” is a renewable energy development that would cost between $4.5 and $5 billion in the first phase of construction and require 800 acres of land along the I-69 freeway, according to the city of Durand, about 20 miles southwest of Flint. The plant itself would be 6,200 feet long and 3,900 feet wide once completed and would create 800 jobs, the city said.

The identity of the company planning Project Tim isn’t being shared due to nondisclosure agreements, the city said in a document posted after a forum of landowners in the area was held. The development is “being planned by a small group of globally leading companies and experts,” the document said.

“While we understand and deeply respect the community’s concern about the nature of the proposed project, we are currently in a very critical phase of business development and subject to certain nondisclosure requirements,” the document said. “As of this time we cannot share details on the precise nature of Project Tim.” The project would increase local tax revenue by $19.2 million per year and indirectly create 85,000 jobs, according to the document. 

A group has formed in opposition to the project: Greater Durand Area Citizens for Responsible Growth.

Speculation about the nature of Project Tim has ranged from a steel mill to a Tesla Inc TSLA development.

The project is “fulfilling the promise to ‘Make America Great Again,” according to the document released by the city, in a reference to President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan.

Once the due diligence for Project Tim is complete, community meetings with renderings and site details will be held, according to the document, which said, “We are planning for a highly transparent process that features plenty of public input.”

A message was left with Durand City Manager Colleen O’Toole seeking comment on this story.

'A Major Component Of This Project Is Clean Energy'

The working title for the project refers to Tim Nichols, the marketing director for Labor Fund Management Advisors LLC, an investment advisory firm based in the Detroit suburb of Novi, according to Crain’s Detroit Business.

Project Tim would “manufacture the lowest cost, highest quality product in the world ... in America,” according to the document released by the city of Durand, and produce clean energy “classified as renewable energy — through radical reduction of carbon emissions.”

The document describes the project as one that would “enable carbon capture” as a future option “to be used for enhanced oil recovery.”

The project cannot proceed without an environmental impact study, the document said.