General Motors on Monday said it is spending $US60 million to upgrade its metal fabrication plant in Flint, Michigan, where the company is the biggest private employer.
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According to the Associated Press (AP), the automaker said the money will be spent on blanking systems, weld assembly systems, tools for future products and related equipment. The Flint Metal Centre reportedly stamps and assembles sheet metal panels for GM trucks and vans as well as making engine cradles and employs about 2,330 people.
“The upgrades will allow the plant more flexibility, which puts the site in a better position to secure future business,” GM vice president Jim Wiemels, the general manager of the metal fabricating division, said, according to the report.
Richard Shoemaker, a representative for the United Auto Workers Union, told the Associated Press the investment means job security for employees and economic security for many Flint-area businesses. Flint, with almost 125,000 residents, has been plagued by high unemployment and falling tax revenues, the report added.
Editor’s note: Flint is the hometown of controversial movie maker Michael Moore, whose Fahrenheit 9/11 is currently in theatres in the US and UK. An earlier movie, Roger and Me, was about GM plant closures in Flint. Its title referred to one-time GM chairman Roger Smith.
