Just two years after
Chrysler Group LLC's Sterling Heights assembly plant was written off in bankruptcy there are construction cranes and workers putting $1 billion worth of updates and changes into the facility.
"It's amazing considering, as Chrysler has said itself, it is a rags-to-riches story for this facility," says Mark Vanderpool, Sterling Heights city manager.
When the facility made the list of Chrysler properties to be closed and liquidated in 2010, the city council formed a task force to save the facility. After meeting with 50 local, state, and federal officials from government, schools, unions, private industry, the utilities, railroads, and the Italian Consulate, Chrysler bought the facility back and decided to make it a site where the latest technology would meet manufacturing.
"After this broad-based effort, Chrysler decided to reverse its decision...and due to the incentive package...Chrysler decided to purchase back the facility out of bankruptcy for $20 million," says Vanderpool, who notes it's one of the largest construction projects in southeast Michigan.
"This is the first example of such a scenario in the country. Probably 30-plus auto facilities have been closed across the country and this is the only example in the country of the company buying it back and bringing it back to life."
Besides just over $1 billion in investment in the facility, which includes the recent announcement of a $165 million paint and body section, Chrysler is putting 900 people to work.
In a statement announcing the additional investment, Scott Garberding, senior vice president and head of manufacturing for Chrysler Group LLC, says, "A plant that was slated to close nearly two years ago will now be a state-of-the-art facility that will play an integral role in the success of this company by building the next generation of all-new vehicles.”
Source: Mark Vanderpool, Sterling Heights City Manager
Writer: Kim North Shine
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