General Motors opened a $65 million parts processing plant in the Flint, Michigan, suburb of Burton on Monday.
The plant’s 800 hourly and salaried jobs will be filled workers retained after the closure of similar smaller facilities in Burton and in West Chester, Ohio, GM spokeswoman Raeven Henry said in an email.
The new facility will process GM Genuine parts and parts under the GM-owned ACDelco brand.
“This new facility in Burton will help us continue to deliver the industry’s best possible sales, service and ownership experience,” said Barry Engle, GM executive vice president and president, the Americas, in a statement.
As of today, GM now employs upwards of 9,500 individuals through both Flint plant and the Grand Blanc headquarters of the company’s Customer Care and Aftersales business in Genesee County. Burton’s workers will be supporting GM’s CCA business, which supports service and repair for GM vehicle owners. Daily, the plant averages around 100 inbound deliveries and 55 outbound deliveries, all of which come through 84 shipping and receiving docks.
Due to the increased capacity and influx of labor, employees are anticipated to unitize and package up to 120 million parts a year.
“Efficiency is the key attribute of this facility,” said Henry. “The building’s layout gives us tremendous operating flexibility, much more productive work spaces and sharply reduced congestion throughout the facility.
Engle expressed appreciation for support from the city of Burton in making the plant’s creation possible. As part of the grand opening, GM announced $130,000 in grants to seven Flint-area nonprofits.
Ground was broken on the facility in June 2018.
The plant opening comes on the heels of the Warren, Michigan plant closing on Friday, August 2, which left 260 hourly employees out of work.
