Dr. John’s candies to expand near Grand Rapids

Dr. John’s candies to expand near Grand Rapids

 

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP — A maker of sugar-free candies will invest $2.3 million to expand its operations north of Grand Rapids.

Comstock Park-based Sugar Free Specialties LLC, which does business as Dr. John’s Sugar Free Candies, plans to purchase an existing 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Plainfield Charter Township, where it could add up to 50 new jobs, according to a statement.

The company, started by a dentist to make sugar-free nutritional products, considered locations in Indiana and overseas for the expansion, but was “very impressed by the technical, personnel, and financial resources” offered locally by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC), Sugar Free Specialties President and CEO Michael McDonald said in a statement.

The Michigan Strategic Fund is supporting the company’s expansion with a performance-based $250,000 Michigan Business Development Program grant.