Published in the Battle Creek Enquirer Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
Guest Column: Legislation will help Duncan keep jobs here
It should come as little surprise that Duncan Aviation has been the fastest growing business in Battle Creek over the past several years. The company's highly trained, professional staff continually go the extra mile for their customers. Their quality of work and dedication to their customers has helped grow Duncan Aviation from a small family-owned startup in 1956 to a highly regarded business with a global reach in 2009, employing thousands of workers.
However, as successful as Duncan has been, they, like so many families and businesses throughout Michigan, have felt the impact of the recent economic downturn. Because of the nature of its business, and the type of aircraft the company works on, Duncan has seen its growth slow in recent months.
To its credit, the company has not sat idly by waiting for the economy to turn around. It has aggressively pursued new opportunities across the globe. Recently, those efforts paid off with a contract to do finishing work for a European aircraft manufacturer. This is work that has never been done in Michigan before which would allow Duncan to preserve over 100 good-paying jobs.
However, Michigan tax laws placed a huge roadblock in landing this new business by subjecting such work to sales and use tax, adding millions of dollars to the final cost of the plane. The end result being Michigan watching as millions of dollars in business literally flew to other states with more favorable tax laws.
In 2005, Duncan faced a similar situation with respect to pre-owned, out-of-state planes being brought into Michigan for pre-sale inspections, repair, or refurbishment work. Unlike many neighboring states, Michigan did not exempt those services and the parts used from sales and use tax, placing our state at a significant competitive disadvantage. Following conversations with company officials, I teamed with then-Representative Lorence Wenke to pass legislation removing those tax barriers and helping to level the playing field. Governor Granholm even held a bill signing at Duncan to mark the significance of the legislation.
Duncan has seen great growth since that legislation was passed, investing more than $19 million in new facilities, and adding some 350 jobs.
With Duncan’s entry into this new line of work the 2005 legislation must be modified in order to extend the tax exemptions to new aircraft. I applaud Sen. Jason Allen and Rep. Kate Segal who together sponsored the legislation that will make these changes possible. Duncan Executive Vice President and General Manager Bill Prochazka stated that the company could realize more than one million man-hours of work over the next seven years.
The timing of these bills and the urgency for their passage cannot be overstated. With our region’s unemployment rate 20 percent higher than the national average, our leaders must be focused on taking decisive, common-sense action to attract and retain jobs in Michigan. This legislation is a perfect of example of how to do just that. I applaud all those, who were involved in bringing this bi-partisan legislation forward and working to get it passed.
Duncan Aviation has made a major commitment to being successful right here in our backyard, investing millions in its infrastructure and its people and earning a reputation for excellence. I urge the Michigan Legislature to support that commitment by passing these bills quickly, so we can put Michigan back to work and on the road to recovery.
- Mike Nofs
See how we will bring back jobs, decrease taxes, and much more.
