MSU may have to put its plans to help transform Michigan’s bioeconomy on hold.
Twelve million dollars, which was planned to help retain Pfizer Inc. employees and revamp a Holland-based Pfizer plant, has been postponed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
$12M Pfizer building donation delayed
And the budget crisis is the excuse.
In May, Pfizer, a research-based pharmaceutical company, donated a building to MSU to be used for bioeconomic research, which could lead to the development of new fuels, plastics and automotive coolants.
The donation of the plant still is subject to the approval of the MSU Board of Trustees.
The three-story, 138,000-square-foot building hasn’t been used in about three years, Pfizer spokesman Rick Chambers said in an previous interview. Before a global restructuring in 2003, the plant was used to manufacture products, such as medicines.
“It was in pristine shape but empty,” Chambers said.
Pfizer officials envisioned MSU using the building to help bring the state into a “new green economy,” Chambers said.
Two months after the donation announcement, the Michigan Strategic Fund Board approved a $3.4 million grant to Lakeshore Advantage to redevelop the plant.
“MSU collaborated with Lakeshore Advantage, the Holland-area economic development organization, in preparing a proposal to the Michigan Strategic Fund,” said Paul Hunt, MSU’s associate vice president for research and graduate studies.
The university was unable to apply directly for the money, so the funds were approved to Lakeshore Advantage, Hunt said.
“Those funds would be subcontracted to MSU for support of the Holland bioeconomy facility,” he said.
The other $8 million was going to go to the Pfizer Asset Retention Fund to retain Pfizer employees.
But because of the state’s budget situation, the money isn’t available, said Michelle Begnoche, a spokeswoman for Granholm.
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“This is a program we support, the kind of project we should be funding to grow the economy,” Begnoche said.
“But we need to resolve the budget crisis before we move forward.”
It’s hard to determine when the money might be returned, she said, but it most likely will be sometime after the state’s budget is dealt with.
“Our hope is that the project will go forward when the budget crisis is resolved, but at this point, folks should just stay tuned,” Begnoche said.
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