More Michigan Businesses Getting Work From Consumers Energy as a Result of Pure Michigan Business Connect

MORE THAN $207 MILLION AWARDED TO STATE FIRMS TO DATE

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Apr 11, 2012, 06:00 ET

JACKSON, Mich., April 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- More Michigan businesses are getting work from Consumers Energy as a result of the company's commitment to Pure Michigan Business Connect.

Consumers Energy has awarded $207 million to Michigan companies in new multi-year contracts since joining this State of Michigan initiative last year.

Two customer stories illustrate the positive impact this program is having.

In the first story, East Lansing-based Great Lakes Comnet (GLC), responded favorably to a competitive bid and received a three-year contract from Consumers Energy valued at up to $2 million for high-tech broadband services. Previously, these contract dollars primarily flowed to an out-of-state company.

"GLC's relationship with Consumers Energy has driven our network build-out, Network Operations Center (NOC) and data center expansions. It's led to the initial hiring of 20 additional personnel, with another 40 personnel targeted to support this and other initiatives," said John Summersett, GLC's chief operating officer.

In the second story, a West Michigan company attended a Consumers Energy supplier summit in December to learn about Pure Michigan Business Connect. As a result, MoHawk Construction Co. of Grand Rapids received an award based on a competitive bid. It recently completed partial renovation of the utility's Big Rapids service center.

"This Consumers Energy project was of great benefit to us and our subcontractors. It allowed us to keep a number of our workers busy during what would have otherwise been a slow period for us," said Mike Hawkins of MoHawk Construction. "We appreciate Consumers Energy's emphasis on utilizing Michigan-based companies and look forward to future business opportunities."

"More people are working in Michigan as a result of Pure Michigan Business Connect," said Daniel Malone, Consumers Energy's senior vice president of distribution and customer operations. "In our 125th year of service, we're glad to be playing our part in the state's recovery and plan to aggressively continue our Michigan vendor recruitment efforts."

Consumers Energy's commitment to increase its business contracts with Michigan over the next five years is in addition to the $2 billion annually it now spends in the state. These investments are in customer service, electric and natural gas operations, energy efficiency, renewable energy and environmental stewardship.

Companies interested in doing business with Consumers Energy are encouraged to visit the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's website www.michiganadvantage.org/Business-Connect or Consumers Energy at www.consumersenergy.com/puremichigan.

Consumers Energy, the principal subsidiary of CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS), provides natural gas and electricity to 6.8 million of Michigan's 10 million residents in all 68 Lower Peninsula counties.

Great Lakes Comnet (GLC) is a Michigan-based for-profit corporation formed in 1996. The Corporation shareholders are primarily Incumbent Local Exchange Companies (ILECs) located in Michigan. GLC Corporate offices are located in East Lansing, Mich. GLC owns and operates over eleven hundred miles of fiber optic Network throughout Michigan, northern Ohio, Indiana and Illinois with 2,000 additional miles under construction.

For more information about Consumers Energy, visit our Website at www.consumersenergy.com.

SOURCE Consumers Energy