MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI — La Colombe Coffee Roasters is planning a $479 million expansion in Norton Shores amid an economic growth spurt in Muskegon County.

La Colombe is a Philadelphia-based coffee company founded in 1994 by Todd Carmichael and JP Iberti. The company offers single-origin beans, ready-to-drink products, and operates around 30 U.S. locations, according to its website.

In 2015, Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani, purchased a share of the company. Chobani fully acquired La Colombe for $900 million in December 2023.

Just a few months before the Chobani acquisition, Keurig Dr Pepper announced it had invested $300 million in La Colombe in exchange for 33% ownership of the company.

Amid these high-profile investments, La Colombe has been rapidly expanding in Michigan. The company moved its canned coffee production to Norton Shores in 2016 and has continued growing there since. In August 2022, it announced a planned $1.75 million expansion including new production facilities in Norton Shores.

During this time, La Colombe has launched a handful of innovative products over the years. In 2016, it began offering a canned version of its draft latte, a cold-pressed espresso and frothed milk latte which was previously only available on tap in stores.

In 2020, La Colombe announced a new can of instant coffee with self-heating technology. The bottom of the can has a cap that twists and causes a chemical reaction that heats the beverage in just two minutes.

La Colombe’s latest production expansion, approved by the Norton Shores Planning Commission earlier this month, represents a $479 million investment.

The expansion is needed to support the increased production and distribution of La Colombe products nationally and internationally. It is expected to create approximately 100 new jobs, according to city records.

La Colombe has declined to comment about its plans in Norton Shores, but the expansion comes amid a period of significant economic growth in Muskegon County.

Paul Isely, associate dean and professor of economics at Grand Valley State University’s Seidman College of Business, told MLive/the Muskegon Chronicle that Muskegon County saw about 2% job growth between November 2024 and November 2025.

Kent and Ottawa counties, meanwhile, saw less than 0.5% job growth during the same timeframe.

“Muskegon is showing growth in manufacturing jobs, while Ottawa and Kent County are showing shrinking of manufacturing jobs,” Isely said. “On job growth, Muskegon is doing very well.”

Muskegon County is doing well thanks to a strong aerospace industry, while Kent and Ottawa County are being hurt by a downturns in the furniture and automotive sectors, respectively.

“The mix of things in each county is different, and that mix of things in Muskegon County is on an upswing,” Isely said.

The aerospace sector is doing well thanks in part to the Trump Administration’s defense spending but also because Boeing has “gotten its house in order,” after the 2024 Alaska Airlines door blowout forced it to ground all of its 737 MAX 9 aircraft, Isely said.

This aerospace boom is highlighted by GE Aviation’s $70 million expansion in the same industrial park as La Colombe. The company plans to add 16,000 square feet to an existing 101,000-square-foot facility at 6060 Norton Center Drive.

GE Aerospace expects to add 60 new jobs as a result of the expansion.

Additionally, new developments along the south side of Muskegon Lake are starting to bolster Muskegon’s tourism industry. Projects such as Adelaide Pointe or the Shaw Walker development replace or repurpose former industrial sites.

“That sense of a place you want to be is growing in Muskegon, and that’s going to lead businesses to think that’s a decent place to go, because they’re going to be able to convince workers to be there,” Isely said.

La Colombe also has the chance to fill in the void left by Coles Quality Foods last year. The maker of frozen garlic bread in September announced it would shutter its Muskegon facility, laying off 175 employees in the process.

While baking is not the same as beverage manufacturing, there is a chance that the 100 jobs promised by La Colombe will have some talent overlap with the jobs shed by Coles, Isely predicted.