The logistics center will be 400,000 square feet and used for parts sequencing purposes. GM said the center is intended to cut costs and transportation between facilities. Regional plant manager Tony Francavilla said construction should be completed by September 2014.

Said Steven Cohen, director of community development for the city of Auburn Hills: “Ralco could have built this new facility anywhere in the Midwest, but they want to be here. That’s great news not only for the city of Auburn Hills but also the state of Michigan.”

When a career fair turned into a $10,000 disappointment, Jonathan DeWys could have walked away chagrined about the lack of skilled workers. But instead, he channeled his frustration and the lessons learned into developing a better solution: a new, in-house educational program.

That planted the seed for what the company calls DeWys University.

For the past couple of years, West Michigan employers have been reporting a critical lack of job candidates with the right technical skills, a gap that has been growing as the area economy heats up from the prolonged recession in the manufacturing sector.

AMP is one of several employer-driven initiatives available in West Michigan aimed at recruiting people who want to work in manufacturing and providing them with the training and educational tools they may have not received in high school or college.