SPARTAN FENCE broke ground on its new 20,000-square-foot facility in Perry Township on Wednesday, May 2. The family-owned company manufactures gates and installs fences of all kinds, with a current service area encompassing all of Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio. Mallory Building Contractors, of Haslett, is building the new facility, which will sit just south of Spartan Fence’s existing facility on Bennett Drive in Morrice, just east of Perry.
Phil Millikin and his brother, Mike, have owned the business since 1989, and they built the existing facility in 1999. The new facility will accommodate the Millikin brothers’ expanding business, and it will provide on-site warehouse space. The company makes “one or two trips per week” to its current warehouse in Owosso for materials.
Spartan Fence’s growth necessitated the new facility, and the company is in the process of doubling its workforce from 10 employees to 20. Phil Millikin is looking for as many as 10 experienced fence installers, or even carpenters willing to learn the trade. Interested persons can apply at the company’s office, which is located at 10808 Bennett Dr., Morrice.
The ground breaking event was organized by the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership (SEDP), and Phil Millikin praised SEDP President Justin Horvath and Vice President Brent Jones for facilitating his every need leading up to – and including – the groundbreaking ceremony.
“I just want to emphasize that Justin, Brent and the SEDP have been a very big help to us,” Phil Millikin noted on May 2. “They are a very good resource, and Shiawassee County is lucky to have them. They put us in touch with the right people, and helped us get competitive quotes. They were there at every step of the process.”
Shown during the groundbreaking is (from left) SEDP board member Mark Hudson, David Smarch with Consumers Energy, board member Craig Bishop, Mallory Building Contractors owner Ron Mallory, SEDP VP Brent Jones, Shiawassee County commissioners Jeremy Root and Mark Coscarelli, Perry Township Clerk Kelly Schmidt and Supervisor Mark Fulks, Paul Millikin, SEDP board president Paul Cook, constituent relations representative Marla Conover on behalf of Congressman John Moolenaar, and SEDP President Justin Horvath.
(Independent Photo/Graham Sturgeon)
