HARBOR SPRINGS — Aster Brands has acquired the former Daifuku building on M-119 in Harbor Springs and is expanding its operations to create jobs locally.

According to a Jan. 30 new release, Aster Brands currently operates in Charlevoix and Petoskey with 51 full-time Michigan employees plus 25 team members worldwide, and the company is expanding operations with a new headquarters in the Harbor Springs industrial site.

Aster Brands produces steel and polyurethane forming equipment for more than 150 precast concrete manufacturers around the world.

“New signage is going up on the building in the coming days and we’re beginning our move-in and renovation process,” Aster Brands Marketing Consultant Lindsey O’Connor said. “We’ve just released information to help the community understand what we’re up to. Even though we’re making forms and molds for the concrete industry, we don’t manufacture concrete or finished precast concrete products at Aster Brands.”

A northern Michigan native and engineer Jake Kloss has been part of an exciting growth trajectory during his eight years at Aster Brands.

The company’s manufacturing work is a process that requires skilled labor, including welders, fabricators, and manufacturing technicians. Its biggest customers last year were in France, Kentucky and Georgia.

Aster Brands is part of the Manthei Group, which is owned by the Manthei family, which has been living and doing business in Northern Michigan since 1915.

Other Manthei Group businesses include Manthei Wood Products in Petoskey and Manthei Construction and High Format in Charlevoix.

Aster Brands President, Jake Manthei, was born and raised in Petoskey, has called the community home his whole life and can trace one side of his family history back to Harbor Springs as far back as 1875, and the other side to Petoskey since 1904.

The Manthei family has been part of the Harbor Springs community for quite some time already, as part-owners of the Perry Home Village memory care facility and as owners of the Fairview Square and Harbor Plaza shopping centers.

As the business expanded, it no longer had room to house the entire staff at its design, manufacturing and engineering facility in Charlevoix and Aster Brands leased an additional 30,000 square-foot of space in Charlevoix as well as 6,000 square feet of office space in Petoskey.

For the past 8-10 years, the company has searched for a long-term space to bring its entire Michigan team and operations back together in one building.

“This location in Harbor Springs made sense for our growth trajectory, giving us space to continue to grow and achieve our goals as a company,” the Aster Brands website reads. “In addition, it keeps high-quality jobs in Northern Michigan and brings new opportunities for residents of Emmet County. This community needs high-skill, year-round jobs, and we need high-skill, year-round employees.”

Aster Brands provides year-round, full-time jobs, 80% of which require medium or high-skill employees. Its manufacturing processes are highly technical; they use fiber lasers, CNC rollers, robotic and manual welding, CNC milling and more.

It also employs business professionals from marketing to finance to engineering. In Michigan, Aster Brands currently has over 50 employees and plans to add 15 more between 2025 and 2030.

Aster Brands has a phased-out three-year plan for renovating and moving into the space. The company will be fixing up the exterior of the building and improving the landscaping.

The company will begin its move-in process in early 2025 and plans to have operations and manufacturing fully relocated by fall. The office renovation and transition its office staff will likely happen in 2026.

Given the construction’s proximity to the traffic light on Pleasantview Road and the turn lane on M-119, the company said it doesn’t expect a major impact on traffic.

For more information on Aster brands and its new headquarters relocation project, click here.

EXPLORE MORE

9&10 News has cultivated a map that includes various newly opened, upcoming and for-sale businesses in Northern Michigan. Explore the map below to find your next shopping or entrepreneurial adventure.

MAP KEY: Green = Now Open Red = For Sale NOW OPEN

• ShareCare Leelanau – Leelanau County
• Evergreen Consignment – Leelanau County
• Three Trees Vineyard – Suttons Bay
• Leelanau Goods – Leland
• Goodness on Main – Leland
• River Studio - Leland
• River Club – Glen Arbor
• K1 Go Cart Racing – Traverse City
• Grand Traverse Industries – Traverse City
• Men’s Shed – Traverse City
• TC Man Cave – Traverse City
• Firebird Pizza – Traverse City
• A Better You Gym – Fife Lake
• A Clean Start – Manistee, Frankfort & Ludington
• The SunShack & Co – Manistee
• Traveler’s Motel – Onekama
• The Misty Cove - Frankfort
• Premier Hobbies – Boyne Falls
• Vilah Bloom – Boyne City
• Walloon Watershed – Walloon Lake
• Iron Goat Coffee – East Jordan
• The Landing Zone (Gaylord Bowling Center) – Gaylord
• Old Glory Art Gallery – Gaylord
• State Savings Bank – Gaylord
• Goodwill Northern Michigan – Grayling
• Reynold’s Golden Finds – Mount Pleasant
• The Salty Heifer Diner – Manistee
• Bee Joyful (Natural soaps & Honeybee gifts)
• Bushell’s Kitchen + Cocktail’s – Traverse City
• Taqueria Las Lagunas – Traverse City
• Gill-Roy’s Got It! – Traverse City
• Village Cafe & Ice Cream Shop – Kingsley
• El Maguey Mexican Bar & Grill – Cadillac
• The Cantina Tacos & Tequila – Charlevoix
• Indian Spice – Cadillac

FOR SALE

• Shady Lane Cellars – Suttons Bay
• Ciccone Vineyard & Private Estate – Suttons Bay
• Old Mission Tavern – Grand Traverse County
• Bardon’s – Traverse City
• Med’s Café – Cheboygan
• Old Mission Inn and Mission Bay Cafe – Grand Traverse County
• Gage (TerrAscend) Dispensary – Grand Traverse County
• Westside Beverage – Traverse City
• Lake View Motel & Gift Shop – Lake City
• Meauwataka General Store – Cadillac
• Roaring 20s – Cadillac
• The Workshop Brewing Company – Traverse City
• Rico’s Café and Pizzeria – Traverse City
• Fresh Coast Beer Works – Traverse City
• The Whaleback Inn – Leland
• Yard & Lake – Northport

Do you have a newly opened, upcoming or for-sale commercial entity that you want to highlight in Business Buzz? Send your information to the 9&10 News team.