GM, GE pick Michigan for manufacturing facilities
DETROIT -- Michigan had a day of good news Friday, when two major companies said they'd picked spots in the economically depressed state for their manufacturing facilities.
General Electric says they'll hire 1,100 scientists, engineers and technologists in a new manufacturing technology and software development site in Van Buren Township, about 25 miles from Detroit. And General Motors said they picked a plant in Orion Township, about 40 miles north of Detroit, to make a subcompact and compact car.
The news is a bit of brightness in a state that's leading the country in unemployment with 14.1% of workers without jobs, housing foreclosures and general economic malaise. Wisconsin and Tennessee were also competing for GM's small car plant.
Troy Clarke, president of GM North America, said he's confident GM will be able to produce a low-cost small car in Michigan. GM will be the only automaker to produce a subcompact car in the U.S. Typically, production of smaller vehicles has been in low-cost countries, because the cars haven't historically brought in much profit for the car companies.
GE CEO Jeff Immelt, too, says he's confident GE can produce low-cost products at a Michigan site. For too long, companies have been outsourcing important skill sets to other countries, and some of that needs to start coming back to the U.S.
"It's hard to point to a successful country that has completely eroded its manufacturing base," Immelt says. "I do think it's important for the country to be more invested in manufacturing."
And Michigan makes sense because there are a lot of skilled precision workers with engineering and technical backgrounds looking for work, he says.
GE's advances manufacturing and software technology center will develop technologies that will go into GE's renewable energy, aircraft engine, gas turbine and other high-tech products. The new $100 million, 100,000-square-foot building will also house software development facilities that will work to support GE's business operations for advanced technologies.
Related Stories
ABC News Live