Granholm is in Japan on a trade mission, seeking to encourage more businesses there to open or expand operations in the Great Lakes State. The company plans to add 48,000 sf at its technical center in Southfield and buy a neighboring 134,000-sf office building. Denso says it has invested more than $1.3 billion in the state so far, and the $36-million expansion is expected to create 250 new jobs by 2010.

"Our business is growing, and we need to expand our facilities so that we can quickly respond to North American customers," Denso International America president and CEO Matt Matsushita says. "With the North American automotive industry centered in Michigan, it makes sense to expand our existing facility already situated close to those customers."

The company currently employs 4,500 workers in Michigan in four locations. "For nearly 40 years, Denso and the State of Michigan have maintained a strong partnership that has meant thousands of good-paying jobs for our families and helped the company grow into one of the three largest automotive suppliers in the world," Granholm says in a statement. "Denso's desire to expand its headquarters here strengthens that partnership."