Michigan sheet metal worker details impact of canceled project

“Semiconductor plant project creates hundreds of jobs for SMART sheet metal workers in Michigan.”

That would have — and should have — been the headline about a megaproject in the Flint area, one that looked set to change the lives of entire communities. But all that evaporated when political chaos got in the way.

“They were supposed to build a semiconductor chip plant to the tune of a couple square miles on the roof — a lot of work,” explained Mike Carpenter, a sheet metal mechanic and 12-year member of SMART Local 7. “Two hundred tradespeople for 10 to 15 years just in the sheet metal trades, thousands of jobs between other trades, supporting industry, business, transportation. It was going to put Flint almost back to that industrial, automotive attitude that it had back in the ‘70s and ‘80s.”

To be specific, the $55-plus billion project “was expected to be among the largest economic investments in Michigan’s history” and create up to 10,000 jobs, according to Michigan Live. Michigan state and local officials had worked for years to bring the project to the area. And, as Carpenter explained, that scale of project is never just about the work it creates. The impact spreads to area businesses, the local housing market and community members who aren’t directly involved.

“It sounded like everybody was set up for a win,” Carpenter said, adding: “We were really hoping for jobs.”

Then, in the summer of 2025, everything changed.

“Because of massive economic uncertainty at the national level, an advanced manufacturing company we were working with to bring a huge project to Michigan has decided not to move forward with plans to construct a semiconductor plant anywhere in the United States,” Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a July statement. “Their board came to this decision amid national economic turmoil, which is at risk of worsening amid threats of even higher tariffs.”

SMART General President Michael Coleman commented on the project cancelation back when the news first broke.

“This project would have been huge for Local 7 sheet metal workers and members of the local community, and its cancelation is devastating for our members, their families and working people in Michigan,” he said. “These projects change lives, and when they get canceled, SMART members and working people lose. It’s that simple. We need our leaders in government to focus on policies that protect our jobs, our communities and our families.”

Carpenter echoed those sentiments.

“It was disheartening, you know. You look forward to years and years of good, steady work, and building your funds back up, and building your pension back up,” he explained. “Taking care of the retired members that helped build what we have, and taking care of the future members — building something that they’re going to be proud of and something that they can profit from after they’ve put their time in.”

As of now, Carpenter said, the massive site of the now-canceled project is sitting empty: hundreds upon hundreds of acres, with site prep ongoing but nothing to put members to work.

“It would be nice to see some cooperation on getting this back up and running,” he concluded. “Michigan taxpayers have a lot of money into that … So it’d be nice to see the taxpayers get a return.”