SEMA picks site in Michigan for 2nd SEMA Garage

DIAMOND BAR, Calif. — The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) has selected Plymouth, Mich., as the site for its second SEMA Garage, complementing the group's existing West Coast development facility in Diamond Bar.

SEMA has been considering setting up a second innovation/testing facility in the eastern U.S. for some time to help members develop new products.

SEMA has a bid pending on a 45,000-sq.-ft. structure in Plymouth, according to Mike Spagnola, vice president of OEM and product development programs for SEMA, but since the deal is in escrow the trade group declined to say specifically where in Plymouth it's located until it closes.

The facility is three time the size of the SEMA Garage in Diamond Bar, Mr. Spagnola said, and thus will provide SEMA with considerably more opportunity for testing, training and member interaction. Among his duties with SEMA is overseeing the Product Development Center.

If the deal closes soon, SEMA hopes to have the first testing facilities there running by early 2022, he said during a recent online Wheel & Tire Council meeting.

Plymouth is a city of about 9,000 located 25 miles west of Detroit. Mr. Spagnola estimates there are at least 80 automotive companies located in and around Plymouth.

SEMA is budgeting several hundred thousand dollars for equipping the new facility once the purchase is completed. Mr. Spagnola cautioned that some pieces of equipment SEMA envisions for this center could take up a year for delivery from time of ordering.

The SEMA Garage in Diamond Bar, which opened in 2013, is filled with nearly $2 million of equipment, including tools specialty product developers use, including a pair of vehicle lifts, a portable coordinate measuring machine (CMM) for 3D scanning, a 3D printer for fast prototyping, digital race car scales for precise vehicle weight measurements, a dynamometer for precise emissions measurements and more, according to SEMA.

The facility is designed to provide SEMA member businesses access to the tools and equipment they need to get their products off the drawing board and into customer hands. The trade groups says it's the only facility of its kind in the U.S.