DaimlerChrysler announced in March 2005 that it will invest more than $506 million to retool, modernize and improve its stamping and assembly operations in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The project will retain a total of 20,782 Michigan jobs, including 5,123 directly by the company. An incentive package offered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) helped convince DaimlerChrysler to reinvest in Michigan rather than other competing sites in North America. (DaimlerChrysler had considered shutting down the assembly and stamping plants, built in 1953 and 1965 respectively, and moving production to other North American locations.)