Hy Tech Machining purchased the Plant 18 property, about 20acres that includes a 91,000-square-foot office building andanother 150,000 square feet of industrial, for almost $500,000. Thesite had appraised at $705,000, said Linda Dawson, director ofeconomic development for the city, but that "considerable damagehad occurred to portions of the building since that appraisal."

Teresa Lay, co-owner of Hy Tech, says the company hopes to addalmost 100 employees in the next five years after the move to thenew facility. She says she's not sure if the company, which repairsand maintains industrial machines and tools, will demolish thebuildings on the site or not. "We're in the due process period, alot of things can change. We may salvage some of the buildings," hetells GlobeSt.com. Her firm had purchased 17 acres near its currentlocation for a 100,000-square-foot new building, but thedevelopment didn't pan out.

She says her company is more fortunate than those that hadsupplied GM in the city. "The economy has had an effect on a lot ofcompanies, but we've stayed busy. Our auto industry work is nearlynon-existent, we do work for industries such as medical andaerospace," Lay says.