(LANSING) – A St. Joseph County business is receiving money from the State to help it grow.

Thursday morning, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation announced three business expansion projects, that would create 294 new jobs and bring in $34.8 million in investment to the State.

One of the businesses is Carter Associates, Inc. in Burr Oak. They manufacture reusable green packaging projects, including shipping totes, produce sleeves; thermoformed packaging and pallets, and more. They also manufacture electric heating pads for low energy-consuming heat sources for customers in the agribusiness, construction and automotive industries.

Carter Associates has three locations, two of them in Burr Oak along with one in Sturgis, and they employ 18 people. They plan to consolidate the two Burr Oak facilities into one. That will require renovating and retooling 35,000 square feet of manufacturing space to support current and future customer demands.

The project is expected to generate a total capital investment of $3 million and will create 20 new jobs. That is due in part with the support of a $100,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance based grant.

Michigan was chosen for this expansion over competing sites in Indiana and Wisconsin.