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300 New Engineering and IT Jobs Coming to Jackson

Posted: 4:50 PM May 11, 2012
Reporter: Hannah Saunders

300 New Engineering and IT Jobs Coming to Jackson

Consumers Energy and HCL Technologies (an international company based in India) have already signed the lease at the former Commonwealth Commerce Center, thanks to some help from the state; agreeing to invest $870 million in incentives.

"This center will serve Consumers Energy and in the future, expand to support other companies in Michigan and beyond," said VP and CIO of Consumers and CMS Mamatha Chamarthi.

The new Michigan technology development center will be a way for the state to keep a better connection with the world's technological developments, and it will look to Jackson's unemployed first to fill the hundreds of IT positions opening up soon.

"They want the best people in the world working for them, and they thought Jackson was the best place to get those people," said Governor Rick Snyder.

But there is not a solid plan for how most of the unemployed in the city, who don't have college degrees will be eligible for these tech-savvy jobs. When we asked Governor Snyder how that gap would be bridged without pulling people from outside the area, he gave Jackson residents a tip: "There are programs to help with that. One program is called shifting code."

The Governor went on to say that most of the jobs will probably go to nearby university and college grads; especially since the center will be partnering with area schools to be a designated training and development hub for advanced and emerging IT processes.

"Here's a good opportunity to stay and have families here, and be good role-models for why people should start moving to Michigan," he continued.

A tactic to keep Michigan grads in the state, to continue to develop even more jobs for Michiganders in the future.

Renovations on the Commonwealth Commerce Center will start in 3-4 months. There won't be a way to apply for these jobs until later in the years, but when there is you can count on us telling you exactly what to do.