Michigan’s Great Southwest got the strongest endorsement it has ever received from current Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer during Friday’s dedication of Whirlpool’s new St. Joseph Technology Center. Bitzer recalled the historical commitment to the area by his two CEO predecessors David Whitwam and Jeff Fettig, going back over 20 years. And then he added his name to that commitment for the foreseeable future.
In Bitzer’s words: “Southwest Michigan is not just a ‘mailbox headquarters’ with a few employees. It is at our core.”… “It is where we started and it is where we have invested $250 million dollars over the past ten years.”
Bitzer pointed to the new Technology Center (laundry & kitchen appliances) on Upton Drive, the North American Headquarters on Riverview Drive, the expanded Benton Harbor Technology Center (Refrigeration) on Riverview Drive, and major renovation at the Global Headquarters (“Ad Center”) and Consumer Design Center, both located North on M-63. Whirlpool also invested in the recently opened ‘Emma Jean Hull Flats’ residential apartment complex on Riverview Drive.
Bitzer said Whirlpool must invest in ‘the best technology’, and that means attracting the best people to design and create new, innovative products for the World market. He said facilities like the new St. Joseph Technology Center are necessary to compete with ‘worldwide, world class companies.’
Bitzer acknowledged that Whirlpool has a particular challenge recruiting highly trained employees to a smaller community like the Twin Cities area. However, he said the area’s education systems and its quality-of-life help overcome those factors. He said once employees are here, they want to stay and they endorse the area to professional associates considering joining Whirlpool.
Whirlpool Executive Vice President of Corporate Relations Pam Klyn said that when engineers and other employees move into the new Technology Center this Fall, they’ll be occupying a historical spot. They will be just a few feet from where the Upton Machine Co. began in 1911, and where the first automatic washing machine was invented in the 1940’s. They will occupy 153,000 square feet over two floors, about the size of two football fields, according to Klyn.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer told the ribbon-cutting crowd that Whirlpool’s impact on Southwest Michigan cannot be overstated. She called the company ‘an important lynchpin’ and said local and state government must listen carefully to the company’s needs and react whenever possible. Whitmer echoed the theme for the day when she said Whirlpool is still here because of “good hard-working people, lots of talent and a great quality of life” in Southwest Michigan.
When the ribbons had been cut and the ceremonies had been concluded, the most important news to come from the event was Chairman Marc Bitzer’s strong, unmistakable affirmation of Whirlpool’s commitment to Southwest Michigan as home and headquarters.
By Gayle Olson, MOTM Contributor
