Grand Blanc Township company, Azentek, to expand,
add 78 high-paying jobs, invest about $3 million

By Melissa Burden | The Flint Journal
June 18, 2008

GRAND BLANC TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- A high-tech company that hopes to have its in-vehicle "infotainment" personal computer system in stores this fall is planning to expand here and add 78 high-paying jobs over the next five years.

Azentek, organized in 2006, secured a state tax credit Tuesday from the Michigan Economic Growth Authority board worth $1.5 million over 10 years.

An announcement was planned by company officials this morning in a news conference in Flint.

The company, which has about 15 employees, plans to move into a 50,000-square-foot building in the township, said Johnny G. Cooper, president and chief executive officer.

The company has been operating out of two township facilities that totaled 19,000 square feet. It also has a sales office in The Netherlands it will keep.

In all, the company will invest about $3 million in the new facility and equipment, said Jack Duckworth, Azentek's chief financial officer.

The company will need several types of engineers as it expands. The jobs on average could pay about $960 weekly, Duckworth said.

Azentek, which won a "Best of CES" award in the car tech and GPS category by the editors at CNET, a consumer electronics Web site at the 2008 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev., had been contemplating producing its systems in China.

Janice Karcher, vice president of economic development and strategic planning for the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the company was at a cost disadvantage here versus producing in an Asian country.

"It was our desire to try to make this work," said Cooper, who was born and raised in the Grand Blanc area and previously had investments in automobile dealerships and an automotive supplier business. "I'm glad we got the support we needed from the state."

Grand Blanc Township in July also will consider a tax abatement worth more than $36,000 for Azentek.

The GRCC began working with Azentek in January to seek tax credits and abatements, as the company earned accolades for its gadgets and was taking product orders.

Azentek recently sold some of its ruggedized portable in-vehicle computers to a branch of the federal government for military use and has a deal in place with an original equipment manufacturer to have an in-dash personal computer come standard in one model of one vehicle in 2010, said Pete Muller, vice president of sales and marketing for Azentek.

"They've got customers lining up," Karcher said.

The mobile electronics industry is seeing growth, with U.S. wholesale shipment revenues of products expected to reach $12.8 billion this year, up from $11.4 billion in 2007 and $6.4 billion in 2003, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

The in-dash computers, which fit where your standard radio sits, feature a 6.5-inch touch screen panel and will retail for $2,799.

The systems have everything from regular radio functions, Internet access, Microsoft functions and GPS systems to the ability to check your e-mail and touch a button for a quick reply to calling up your favorite Lenny Kravitz tune through voice activation.

And when parked, you could pull out a keyboard and have full use of browsing the Internet or finishing a PowerPoint presentation, said Jerry Carlson, Azentek's chief technology officer from a Pontiac G8 with a test in-dash personal computer.

Azentek's SmartMirror product, which affixes to your vehicle's rear-view mirror and includes a back-up camera, global positioning system and bluetooth cellphone capability all-in-one, is set to hit stores for $799 in the third quarter of the year.

"We're working with retailers all around the country," Muller said.

Azentek products are slated to be in at least one of the nation's major electronics stores and at hundreds of specialty stores nationwide, such as Premier Audio Concepts in Flint.

On the Net: www.thegrcc.org/partners_for_progress

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