Specialized military defense vehicles could be coming to Orion Township, but in a good way.
Last week, the township’s board of trustees established an industrial development district for Harmony ? Orion, Inc., essentially granting approval for a new business that could bring over 200 jobs to Orion.
Advanced Defense Vehicle Systems (ADVS), tenants in the Harmony ? Orion building at 4590 Joslyn Road, gave a brief overview of their business at a public hearing held during the regular township meeting.
‘Basically, we build high technology vehicles,? said ADVS CEO James LeBlanc. ‘We would bring to the township employment, on the project we have right now, of a little over 200 people.
‘The positions we’ll bring to the community are typically paid much higher wages than the average assembly or automotive worker,? he added. ‘They’re people who are instrumentally involved with building equipment that keeps our troops safe, here and off-shore.?
The next step for ADVS likely will be requesting a tax abatement, which would involve another public hearing. The hearing last week, however, was just for the industrial development district.
That district was later granted and applies to the parcel, not ADVS or the building in which it is housed.
Representatives from Oakland County spoke during the hearing, as did a few township residents, with one asking if public safety officials would need extra training with such a business coming into the community.
‘We build highly specialized vehicles for very specific purposes, which most often most people will never see,? LeBlanc said. ‘They’re used before actions take place, hopefully so bigger military actions don’t have to take place.?
LeBlanc said ADVS would bring jobs into the township, but, other than that, would be relatively transparent.
‘It’s quiet, you’ll never see us,? he said. ‘All you’ll see is lots of cars parked outside with lots of people working inside.?