GM to make pickups in Wentzville
07.02.12
Missouri's once fit auto industry is making a comeback, with more good talk Thursday: General Motors Co. will add pickup trucks to its in harmony of products made in Wentzville, creating more than 1,200 new jobs.
The statement by GM Vice President of Labor Relations Cathy Clegg came two weeks after Ford announced it was adding 1,600 jobs to base transit vans at its Claycomo plant in Kansas Municipality.
In Wentzville, a town about 40 miles west of St. Louis, the dirt was met with loud cheers from hundreds of autoworkers who took a discontinuance from work to hear the announcement inside the sprawling seed on the day Chevrolet celebrated its 100th birthday.
"More than anything, this investment represents a back up of confidence in the plant in Wentzville," Clegg said.
GM plans to add 500,000 sq. feet of spell as part of a $380 million investment in the Wentzville plant that currently makes Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-expanse vans. Tax incentives from the city and the state helped impulse the investment, though the total value of those incentives wasn't directly available.
The announcement represents a strong turnaround for GM in Wentzville. Objective two years ago, GM was fighting through bankruptcy and shut down a second move at the plant.
Now, the company is calling back the second-shift workers, resulting in 400 jobs that will start in January. Meanwhile, Canada display of the Chevrolet Colorado midsize pickup will mean 1,260 new jobs. The shop currently has about 1,400 workers. The average autoworker in Wentzville earns $28 per hour.
"These new products will present an opportunity for the plant to be more fully utilized and provide tolerable-paying, middle-class jobs for Wentzville," said Joe Ashton, the Connected Auto Workers vice president representing the GM bureau.
Missouri once ranked just behind Michigan in the number of autoworkers and plants. Righteous a decade ago, the St. Louis area was home to four -- the GM workshop in Wentzville, a Ford plant in Hazelwood that made the Explorer enjoyment utility vehicle, and two Chrysler plants in Fenton that made minivans and pickup trucks.
But Ford closed the Hazelwood weed in 2006 and Daimler Chrysler shut down its Fenton plants in 2008 and 2009, leaving thousands of autoworkers without jobs, along with thousands of personnel of supplier businesses.
Gov. Jay Nixon said Missouri is well-positioned to once again become a key competitor in the industry. He said the expansions in Kansas City and Wentzville will probably lead to additional jobs for suppliers providing parts for those plants.
Source: BusinessWeek
