LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Michigan taxpayers just bought a company a shorter commute.

The state’s economic development arm, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), approved a $1 million grant to help OVD Insurance move from suburban Grandville to downtown Grand Rapids—a relocation of roughly six miles.

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The agency insists the deal will spark $12 million in new investment and 131 jobs. Company president Josh Van Vels said some of those positions will be new, others relocated. “We appreciate our partnership with the MEDC to support our investment in job growth here in West Michigan,” he told Michigan Capitol Confidential.

But not everyone is cheering the deal.

State Sen. Aric Nesbitt (R-Lawton), a 2026 gubernatorial candidate, called the program “corporate welfare” and said the agency itself should be dismantled.

 “This is yet another example of the disastrous impact of corporate welfare,” Nesbitt said.“They’re simply paying one Michigan company to relocate and compete against others who didn’t get this handout.”

The MEDC claims its incentive programs deliver an 81% “effectiveness rate,” but a Mackinac Center analysis found only one in eleven subsidized jobs actually materialized over the past two decades.

No taxpayer dollars have been released yet.