Johnson, Minority Owned Firm Form Joint Venture

Johnson Controls Inc. said it and a Detroit-based minority business group have established a joint venture that will supply automotive interior systems to General Motors Corp. beginning next summer.

The Milwaukee-based auto supplier said 180 jobs will be created as a result of the joint venture, Bridgewater Interiors. The new company has been awarded a $900-million, five-year contract to supply GM models beginning in model-year 2000.

Bridgewater will operate a new 100,000-square-foot plant in a Detroit area targeted for urban revitalization that will make products for “just-in-time” delivery to Detroit-based GM. The venture will apply for status as a minority business, said Johnson, which has its automotive operations based in Plymouth, Mich.

The new firm is a joint venture with a Detroit-area business group that includes Ron Hall, president of the Michigan Minority Business Development Council, Johnson said. Hall will resign that position to be Bridgewater’s chairman and chief executive.

The group also includes Bill Pickard, a majority shareholder and business executive in three Michigan-based auto suppliers, Johnson said.

Plant construction was completed this month and production is scheduled to begin in July.