Quebec, Canada-based BRP Inc. plans to add a training center to its Sturtevant manufacturing facility that would potentially bring 500 people to the area annually for week-long visits.
The company’s request for $125,000 in assistance for the project from the village received an initial green light from the Sturtevant’s Community Development Authority on Tuesday. Village staff will now work with the company to create a development agreement and administrator Mary Cole said the hope is to have something to the village board within a month.
The full project will cost just over $700,000 for the training center and an energy recovery initiative.
“We were humbled by their willingness to consider our request and the support they’ve given,” said Michael Schroeder, BRP director of legal services.
He added that the facility already has a state-of-the-art training facility for Evinrude products and the technical talent in the area along with accessibility from General Mitchell and O’Hare airports makes the location attractive for BRP.
The training center would accommodate the company’s network of dealers and technicians. BRP makes Can-Am roadsters, side-by-sides and all-terrain vehicles, Sea-Doo watercraft, Lynx and Ski-Doo snowmobiles, and Rotax and Evinrude engines.
The training center would support repair and aftermarket sales of the company’s full range of products. Eleven jobs would be relocated to Wisconsin from other BRP locations in Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Florida. Another nine jobs would be retained in Wisconsin.
The village’s portion of the project is being sought “to elevate the new training center to world class unity as a destination for status showcasing BRP innovate products and the community as a destination for future visits,” according to a memo sent to the village by Laura Million with the Racine County Economic Development Corporation.
Million’s memo says that the 500 annual visitors would use between 2,000 and 2,500 room nights locally and spend $360,000 to $450,000 annually.
BRP has a 410,000-square-foot facility located on 33 acres at 10101 Drive in Sturtevant. The facility produces Evinrude engines and has about 500 jobs. The company renovated the site in 2011 and transferred 100 employees there from Waukegan, Ill.
The energy recovery initiative in the proposal would cost $180,000 and would enable the company to recapture the energy byproduct of is engine testing process to heat the facility.
