Update: Durand official says timeline for $6 Project Tim development 'not clear'

Efforts to assemble 1,000 acres in mid-Michigan raised questions earlier this year as the secretive so-called Project Tim promised hundreds of jobs and a $4- to $6-billion development.

Now the nature of the mysterious project is known: Steel.

An Ohio-based steel technology company is taking the lead on the land options in Durand, off I-69 between Flint and Lansing, according to a report in Crain's Detroit Business.

John Schultes, CEO of New Steel International Inc., confirmed to Crain's that his company is among "a lot of companies trying to make this happen."

Schultes' company is seeking a "$7 billion federal loan through the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program for construction of a plant in Durand that would produce new high-strength steel," according to Crain's.

Those loans loans support the development of advanced technology vehicles and associated components in the United States. They also meet higher efficiency standards, according to the loan program website.

Applicants could be an automotive manufacturer satisfying specified fuel economy requirements or a manufacturer of qualifying components, it says.

In Durand, the plant could create electricity during the clean-coal steel-making process.

The community became concerned about the project early this year as it became clear that options for acreage were being sought in Durand and nearby Vernon Township, both in Shiawassee County.

City officials met with citizens in July, outlining a few details, like the projected job count of 800 and the likely location where a 24-million-square-foot facility would be built.

But little information was available beyond hints at the scope of the project.

That continued this fall.

"We are really just in a holding pattern for the moment," City Manager Colleen O'Toole told MLive.com in an email in October.

Unclear is whether the unveiling of details on the proposal will have any bearing on the public conversations about the still-quiet potential project.

City council meets on Monday, December 4, but O'Toole said in an email she does "not have plans to include any project related announcements."

New Steel International, based in Franklin, Ohio, was founded in 1999, according to LinkedIn. It's a private company with 51-200 employees, specializing in steel for the automotive sector.

From the site: "NSI designs, builds and operates state-of-the-art steel mills in partnership with the industry's leading companies. NSI is owned and controlled by a group of professionals who have built their reputations in providing superior consulting & engineering services to the heavy industrial ferrous and non-ferrous metals sector worldwide."

According to the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, New Steel International proposed a $7 billion steel mill in 2007 with MMK, described as "a Russian steel giant." It was to be located in Haverhill, Ohio, south of Columbus near the Kentucky border.

MMK had left the project by 2011, but in 2014 New Steel International began "working to revive the plan with new partners," according to the newspaper.

At that time, Schultes spoke before the Ohio Public Utilities Committee in favor of a bill that would charge electricity customers to provide discounts for job-creating projects.