How Michigan and Governor Whitmer’s Partnership with Laserglow Signals a New Era of Industrial Safety

Laserglow Marketing
2 days ago
7 min read

Canadian innovation and Michigan manufacturing strength are converging to create safer, smarter workplaces, redefining industrial safety as core infrastructure for Industry 4.0.

The Empire Club of Canada has long been a stage for ideas that shape economies and forge new relationships. On an early October morning in Toronto, Governor Gretchen Whitmer used it to spotlight a partnership that would do both: connecting Canadian innovation with Michigan manufacturing to build the future of industrial safety.

Dimitry Fedorov (CEO), Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Atul Garg (COO) during Empire Club.

Flanked by business and trade leaders, Whitmer announced Laserglow Technologies’ plan to establish a new manufacturing and assembly facility in Sterling Heights, Michigan, a $1.2 million investment that will create sixteen high-tech jobs and strengthen the state’s position in advanced manufacturing. Backed by the Michigan Business Development Program, an initiative providing financial backing to companies making significant investments in the state economy, the project signaled something larger than a single factory: a shared North American vision for how technology, safety, and productivity can grow together.

“From clean energy to advanced manufacturing, our partnership with Canada remains strong and continues to create good-paying jobs on both sides of the border,” Whitmer told the audience of Canadian business leaders.

For Laserglow, a Toronto-based company known for its development of Hazard Awareness Management systems, the Governor’s words echoed a story already unfolding inside many modern factories across the globe. Automation and data are transforming how things are made, yet the fundamentals of workplace safety have lagged behind. Painted lines still chip. Stickers still fade. Every day, workers cross busy plant floors where fading lines and worn markings leave safety to memory and habit, rather than visibility.

The partnership between Michigan and Laserglow offers a different model, one where cross-border collaboration doesn’t just create jobs, but builds the foundation for safer, more resilient industry.

The Pressure to Modernize Safely

Across North America, manufacturers are racing toward Industry 4.0, a future of connected systems, robotics, and real-time data analytics. Yet for all the progress in automation, the visual foundations of safety have barely changed in decades. Traditional methods like paint, tape, and decals wear out quickly under constant traffic, forcing repeated shutdowns for re-marking and introducing risk every time they fade.

That gap between technological progress and safety performance has become increasingly untenable. Downtime costs climb. OSHA compliance grows more demanding. And as the pace of production increases, human awareness becomes the most fragile link in the chain.

It’s a challenge that resonates deeply in Michigan, where factories that once helped build the Heartland and powered America’s industrial age are now redefining themselves for a digital one. Revitalizing the rust-belt economy means more than reopening plants, it means re-engineering how people, machines, and information move safely together.

It’s here, where industrial renewal meets technological innovation, that Laserglow’s story aligns with Michigan’s. From its R&D hub in Toronto, the company has developed an array of Hazard Awareness solutions that make safety dynamic, visible, and reliable. At the center of this innovation is an approach Laserglow calls Smart Safety, a new way of thinking that treatsindustrial safety as adaptive infrastructure and a proactive mindset rather than a regulatory exercise. It’s an approach where technology and business philosophy meet to create protection that doesn’t wear out and embeds safety into daily operations, keeping workers safer while protecting the bottom line from the high costs of accidents and near-misses.

Why Choose Laserglow?

We are a North American facility with in-house R&D and a proven track record in delivering OEM-independent, patented solutions—the brightest in the market, with projects deployed nationwide. Our focus on cost-effective innovation ensures you get the most reliable and financially viable safety systems available.

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Innovation in Action

When the Michigan delegation, featuring members from both the Governor's Office and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), toured Laserglow’s Toronto facility the morning after Governor Whitmer's announcement, they saw the company’s vision for the future of industrial safety in action. On the floor, projected lines appeared instantly, marking lanes that would never peel or fade. In a nearby testing area, a proximity-detection system flashed a visual warning as a forklift approached a pedestrian crossing. Above the noise and motion, what stood out was the simplicity: workplace safety made intuitive, intelligent and practically impossible to ignore.

The MEDC team, led by Quentin L. Messer Jr., discussed how Michigan could support Laserglow’s U.S. growth through the Michigan Industry 4.0 Accelerator, Newlab at Michigan Central, and associations such as NEMA and MICHauto, organizations that form the connective tissue of the state’s manufacturing innovation network.

The visit became a powerful visual metaphor for what the cross-border partnership represented: Canadian engineering feeding North American progress. Toronto’s innovation met Michigan’s production capacity, aligning perfectly with the state’s strategy to modernize its industrial base while attracting high-tech investment. As MEDC CEO Messer Jr. noted, “Team Michigan is creating opportunity at home by attracting investment from innovative companies like Laserglow Technologies. This trade mission has built undeniable momentum for the future.”

Building Smart Safety into North America’s Industrial Core

In the months ahead, that momentum will take physical form in Sterling Heights, Michigan, where Laserglow’s new facility will assemble and distribute its Hazard Awareness solutions for U.S. manufacturers. The plant will shorten lead times, strengthen North American supply chains, and create high-tech jobs in Macomb County, a region once defined by traditional heavy industry and now emerging as a hub for advanced manufacturing.

For Dimitry Fedorov, CEO of Laserglow, choosing Michigan was both strategic and symbolic. “As our U.S. customer base continues to grow, expanding into Michigan is a natural and necessary step,” he said. “Sterling Heights offers strategic access to our key markets, a strong manufacturing ecosystem, and a shared commitment to innovation.”

The decision also responds to a larger challenge: manufacturers are being asked to produce more, faster, and safer, often with shrinking maintenance budgets and tighter compliance windows. The old trade-off between productivity and safety is no longer sustainable. Laserglow’s suite of solutions is designed to integrate directly into this new reality at modern facilities:

● Safety Projections: Durable, low maintenance, high-visibility safety demarcation including projected lines, signs and walkways for high-traffic zones.

● Proximity Detection: Dynamic, real-time safety alerts that adapt to motion, traffic, and zones, mitigating incidents before they escalate.

● Material Handling Awareness Lighting: High-visibility lighting that enhances pedestrian and operator awareness in high-risk zones.

● Laser Guides: Laser-guided cues for precise forklift and truck alignment, reducing damage and improving efficiency.

By embedding these Hazard Awareness Management technologies into plant infrastructure, manufacturers can reduce downtime, eliminate repainting cycles, and create work environments where safety isn’t just managed, it’s engineered in.

Safety as Infrastructure for Industry 4.0

The Michigan expansion reflects a shift in how industrial safety is understood. In an era defined by connected machines and predictive maintenance, safety is no longer optional, it’s the foundation of resilient businesses and opportunity for local economies. It’s this connection between innovation and opportunity that Michigan is betting on. Governor Whitmer captured it best, saying, “Michigan is the best place to invest, even in uncertain global times. Together, we’re creating good-paying jobs and safer workplaces.”

By anchoring its new site in Sterling Heights while keeping R&D in Toronto, Laserglow is creating a North American loop of innovation, where Canadian engineering fuels American production, and real-world deployment informs the next generation of design. It’s a model that strengthens both nations’ manufacturing ecosystems and accelerates adoption of Industry 4.0 practices.

Across sectors, Automotive, Aerospace, Logistics, and Heavy Industry, manufacturers are recognizing that safety can no longer be reactive. It must be predictive, data-driven, and integrated. Laserglow’s cross-border collaboration proves that modernization and protection can advance together, forming the foundation for a more adaptive, resilient workforce.

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As the manufacturing base in the U.S. continues to grow, we hope to play our part in keeping workers safe through innovative smart technologies.

Looking Ahead

When Laserglow’s Sterling Heights facility opens, it will represent more than a new chapter for the company. It will mark a small but tangible link between two industrial nations embarking on a new journey of modernization through collaboration.

The new site will serve as both a manufacturing hub and a living example of Hazard Awareness Management infrastructure and Smart Safety in practice, where projected solutions and proximity detection systems will operate side-by-side with the assembly lines they support.

For Canada, it reinforces the nation’s position as a source of cutting-edge industrial technology. For Michigan, it delivers new jobs, new capability, and a showcase of how innovation can transform legacy manufacturing centers into future-ready economies.

Laserglow’s leadership calls it a natural evolution of the company’s mission: making safety smarter, every second of every shift. It’s a promise that resonates from Toronto’s innovation corridors to the factory floors of Michigan, proof that when safety and progress move together, everyone advances

Book a Free Safety Consultation

See how Laserglow’s Hazard Awareness solutions, engineered in Canada and built for North America, can enhance compliance, cut costs, and protect your workforce.

Why Choose Laserglow? We’re a North American Facility with a proven track record in R&D and innovation, offering OEM-independent, patented solutions that rank among the brightest on the market—all with projects deployed nationwide. Whether you’re in Food & Beverage, Aerospace, or a heavy manufacturing domain, our robust, real-time sensor-based products adapt smoothly to your needs.

When you decide to take that next big step, you reinforce the message that safety isn’t just a requirement—it’s a core value that underpins your entire operation. Scale up now to secure a real competitive advantage and solidify your standing as an industry leader in safety, efficiency, and employee care.

Contact us to discover how Laserglow solutions can help you protect your team, streamline operations, and set new standards for your entire industry.