Tecumseh Products moves headquarters to new home in Pittsfield Township
Tecumseh Products Companywill move its headquarters into 15,000 square-feet of a 50,000 square-foot office building at 5683 Hines Drive in Pittsfield Township on Friday.
The company purchased the building located in the State Street Business Park in November 2010. The majority of the building functions as the Tecumseh Global Technology Center, which opened in May 2012 and replaced outdated lab space previously located in Tecumseh.
An aerial view of the new Tecumseh Products headquarters and technical center.
From Tecumseh Products
“Any time you have sales, marketing, and engineering staff working out of the same space there’s a lot of necessary collaboration that is much easier than it would be if you separated by geography. The ability to have impromptu meetings will make us much more effective.”
The company moved from Tecumseh to its headquarters at 1136 Oak Valley Drive in Pittsfield Township in 2008 in large part due to proximity to the University of Michigan. Smith said the new headquarters would have a smaller footprint but be more efficient.
“It’s going to be a smaller space for us, but we weren’t utilizing the space at Oak Valley very effectively,” he said.
“We are going to make much better use of the space… We are maintaining our staffing level with the move. Everyone that was working on Oak Valley is moving over to Hines.”
Once the move is completed, the combined headquarters on Hines Drive will employ just over 100 people. The company employs about 7,300 worldwide.
In addition to changing locations, Tecumseh Products has experienced some leadership turnover in the past two years.
In 2011, the companies chief financial officer took over as CEO after disappointing results, and earlier this year the company’s chairman of the board stepped down citing an increased “pace of strategic decision making.”
Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2
Comments
RoboLogic
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 6:52 p.m.
Ill say it again... Tecumseh Products Co. is Old News. Former TPC employee 1987-1993.
justcurious
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 4:37 p.m.
So what happened to the folks in Tecumseh who worked for Tecumseh Products? Did they have to start driving to Ann Arbor? What happened to the old facility? Did someone else move in and provide local jobs?
RoboLogic
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 6:50 p.m.
The former Tecumseh HQ (in Tecumseh) and factory is a shuttered ghost town.
Frank Lee
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 2:53 p.m.
I think the move(s) affirms their lack of leadership and planning in recent years. It is a slap in the face to the City of Tecumseh who they have abandoned.
Ben Freed
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 2:22 p.m.
Thanks for the heads up on the typo in the caption. It has been fixed. On another note, what do y'all think about the move? Is now a good time to move from a lease to buying your own office space? Ben
A2comments
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 12:34 p.m.
What's "an arial view"?
Ann English
Thu, Feb 14, 2013 : 12:45 a.m.
A view from the air, from a helicopter or airplane. Such photographs are common.
WalkingJoe
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 1:07 p.m.
Maybe it's the view of an opera aria? Or a space saving move?
Fat Bill
Wed, Feb 13, 2013 : 12:44 p.m.
Must be the chosen font....