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Dakkota auto supplier plant unveiled at site of former Detroit Kettering

By and David Komer online producer
Published  May 5, 2022 9:38pm EDT
Detroit
FOX 2 Detroit

Dakkota Integrated Systems new Detroit plant unveiled with promise of new jobs

The new facility is built on the property where Detroit Kettering High School once stood.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - New life for the former Detroit Kettering High School has been transformed into an auto parts plant bringing with it hundreds of jobs.

Dignitaries and the who’s who of the automotive industry were on the city's east side at the unveiling of Dakkota Integrated Systems' new plant. 

"Dakkota is one of the largest Native American women-owned led companies in America," said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. 

Diversity, one of the governing principals for founder and CEO of Dakkota, Andra Rush - which earned praise from the governor and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.  

"She's a living example of what's possible, and the living example that tough times don't last, but tough people do," Whitmer said. 

"When everybody else was fleeing Detroit, Andra was coming in," Duggan said.  

Rush has made a commitment to invest into underserved communities like Detroit - by hiring Detroiters.  

The new facility is built on the property where Detroit Kettering High School once stood.   

"It's hard work but it's rewarding work," Rush said. "And you see the purpose and the meaning of a job and career." 

The plants bring 500 jobs, and another 75 projected at this plant alone, where 90 percent of employees identify as a minority.

"It has such an amazing impact and I'm just blessed to have the opportunity," Rush said. 



The automotive supplier makes instrument panels for Stellantis assembly plants - which has a similar commitment of hiring Detroiters first - at its Jefferson and Mack plant. 

"We have our bumps, we have our Covid, we have our chip shortages ... but we are all working hand-in-hand to get through that and hiring folks," said Mark Stewart, COO of Stellantis. 

Expanding in the city was always part of the plan, for Rush - even beyond the auto industry.  

"We are ready to expand, and we're looking at, is it electrification, is it water, whatever makes Detroit, Michigan and the nation the best it can be, and improve our lives as citizens," she said. "I'm ready to participate."