German orchid company to bring 80 jobs to Kalamazoo

Hark Orchids L.P., an orchid propagation company headquartered in Lippstadt, will establish its first facility outside of Germany in the Kalamazoo area.

Founded in 1904, Hark Orchids is a family-owned company offering hybridization, cultivation and propagation of orchids.

Hark plans to build a 30,000 square-foot lab and climatic chambers facility, investing approximately $5 million.

The investment will create up to 80 jobs in the next three to five years. The Michigan Economic Development Corp. and Southwest Michigan First supported the project with cash grants totaling $750,000.

Since 1980, the company has specialized in orchids and for the past 13 years more than 17,500 square meters of its business in Germany has been allocated to laboratories. Orchids are being produced at 333 clean benches in five state-of- the-art laboratories. With a current staff of more than 700, the company gives priority to customized propagation.

Ron Kitchens, CEO of Southwest Michigan First, says the company was drawn to Southwest Michigan because of an established infrastructure of collaboration and bioscientific knowledge.

The Kalamazoo area has long been a center for the bedding plant industry. And Michigan currently ranks third in the nation in floriculture production.

The company plans to build at the Midlink Business Park in Comstock Township. Midlink is a 340-acre business park where manufacturing, assembly, flex space, warehousing, office and retail developments are among the businesses that are approved land uses

“Investments in Michigan’s agriculture industry, like Hark’s investment in Kalamazoo, help our economic recovery by creating new agriculture jobs and supporting our local communities,” says Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director Keith Creagh.

Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave
Source: Michael Shore, Michigan Economic Development Corp.