Asset Acceptance to Create Hundreds of Jobs Under Agreement with Michigan

Accounts receivable management firm Asset Acceptance Capital Corp. announced Thursday that it has signed an incentive package with its home state of Michigan to create hundreds of jobs in the hard-hit region.

Warren, Mich.-based Asset Acceptance (Nasdaq: AACC) said in a press release Thursday that it has formally executed an agreement with the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) to provide tax credits to the company to support job creation at its Warren facility. Under the agreement, made official on June 9, Asset Acceptance is eligible for state tax incentives valued at $2.7 million over seven years for the purpose of job creation.

The company said that state estimates Asset Acceptance will create 432 jobs under the agreement.

Asset Acceptance will invest some $8.1 million in growing and expanding the capabilities at the Warren facility. The state expects that activity alone to create an additional 169 jobs.

Rion Needs, President and CEO, said in a press release, "We are pleased to be working with State and local governments to foster the continued growth of Asset Acceptance and do our part to bring much needed jobs to the Michigan economy. Programs like the MEGA tax credit illustrate how businesses and government can work together to spur growth and create jobs in the face of difficult economic conditions."

In addition to the MEGA tax credit, the city of Warren recently approved a six-year property tax abatement for Asset Acceptance in the amount of $172,305.

Michigan has been one of the hardest-hit states in the country in the current recession, as two of its major automotive manufacturers filled for bankruptcy protection and shuttered plants. Michigan’s unemployment rate hit 14.1 percent in May, the highest in the country by far.