MENDON -  Over the next two years, Lear Corporation’s Mendon plant will be expanding:  purchasing new manufacturing equipment to produce interior components for several automakers, and with this purchase creating 51 new jobs.

Community Development Block Grant funding awarded to the Village of Mendon recently will help support this expansion.

Kara Wood, Community Assistance Team Specialist for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), came to the Village Hall Monday to present village, county and state officials with a ceremonial check representing approval of the village for $510,000 in grant monies.

The money will go toward installation of a new deep well, iron filtration system improvements and water main upgrades.

"This (grant) is significant for a community of this size," said Sen. Cameron Brown, R-Fawn River Township.  "Mendon is leading the way in terms of community spirit and revitalization in this part of the county ... it’s an exciting place to live.  I’m sure the project will grow and prosper Mendon in a very powerful way."

Village manager John Hyden said the projects are going through the preliminary design phase and it could be two or three months before work begins.

Work will be done along Nottawa Road between Clinton Street and Kirby Road, then along Clarke Street.

Lear, then, will be investing $4.2 million in new manufacturing equipment to produce various interior components for several automakers.

In addition to the 51 new jobs the investment is scheduled to create, 74 existing jobs will be secured, said Andrea Puchalsky, director of corporate communications for Lear.

The equipment investment will yield a total of $10 million of investment into the community when paychecks and how the employees add to the area’s economic development are factored in.

"It’s a very exciting day for us," Hyden said.

Many groups helped in bringing this projec to pass:  the MEDC had federal money available to assist in job creation projects; the Mendon Downtown Development Authority put up just over $70,000 in matching funds; the St. Joseph County Economic Development Corporation helped the Village of Mendon with paperwork.