Bandit expands its Michigan presence

Equipment maker cuts ribbon on facility with 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

bandit mount pleasant
Bandit employees, community members and elected officials were among those taking part in the April ribbon cutting ceremony.
Photo courtesy of Bandit Industries Inc.

Remus, Michigan-based Bandit Industries Inc. celebrated the acquisition of a facility in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, with a ribbon cutting ceremony April 5. The facility, formerly owned by a metal tank manufacturing firm, offers 60,000 square feet of manufacturing space and is situated on 24 acres of land.

“These buildings and this property will be so instrumental in growing our company as we continue to ramp up to meet the growing demand for our products,” Bandit CEO Jerry Morey said at the ceremony.

Morey said the facility may be beneficial in drawing employees from the Mount Pleasant region to meet the company’s need for new staffing. The building’s proximity to the highway also serves as an additional convenience, the firm says.

“The primary facility of this site is ideal for producing one of our major product lines, [and] we will be adding a new paint room before we move a line here,” Morey said, referring to Bandit’s whole tree chipper and horizontal grinder product lines.

Also planned for relocation to the new site is Bandit’s electrical team, responsible for producing wiring harnesses for all Bandit products. Future plans include moving the rebuild department from Remus, according to Bandit.

The early-April ceremony drew a variety of attendees, including Bandit employees, community members and elected officials.

This year marks Bandit’s 40th anniversary. The company states much of its success “is contributed to quality products, an amazing dealer network, loyal customer base and their dedicated hard-working employees.”

The company’s current product line consists of hand-fed and whole tree chippers, stump grinders, scrap wood  grinders, and Arjes brand slow speed shredders.

Bandit became an employee-owned company in 2018. “We initially looked at selling to another manufacturing company and then an investment banking company, but backed out of those offers over concerns for our employees and the future of the company," Morey said of that development.

Morey said Bandit anticipates during the next couple of years it likely will need an additional 200 employees and that it hopes to fill 95 open positions by the end of 2023.

In addition to the new Mount Pleasant facility, Bandit invested another $14 million in 2022 undertaking expansion projects at its main campus. Those projects included adding an 80,000 square foot “steel room” featuring new cutting and machining equipment and robots. Once added together, the total manufacturing space across all Bandit locations will equal 560,000 square feet, according to the firm.