General Motors Co.’s Rochester facility is one of four sites nationwide to get a hefty investment—$68 million—as the auto giant prepares for an all-electric future.
Locally, $12 million will be invested to prepare the facility to build intake manifolds and fuel rails for the future V-8 production at Flint Engine Operations, officials say. Additionally, $56 million will be directed to battery pack cooling lines for electric vehicle production.
“The teams in Rochester and Defiance (Ohio) are also leading our transformation to an all-electric future,” says Gerald Johnson, GM executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability. “Their flexibility to build components for both internal combustion and electric vehicles highlights why our manufacturing team is second to none.”
The Rochester plant at Lexington Avenue is the original home of GM’s Rochester Products Division. It builds vehicle components and applications used in various Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac vehicles. The company employs more than 770 people here.
In total, GM’s investment in its plants equals $918 million, including $854 million to prepare these facilities to produce the company’s sixth-generation Small Block V-8 engine.
“These investments, coupled with the hard work and dedication of our team members in Flint, Bay City, Rochester and Defiance, enable us to build world-class products for our customers and provide job security at these plants for years to come,” Johnson says.
The investments are expected to help the company to bolster its full-size truck and SUV business and support its electric vehicle portfolio. Since 2013, GM has invested more than $37 billion, including today’s announcement and its Ultium Cells LLC joint venture plants.
Following are the investments at other sites:
■ Michigan’s Flint Engine Operations: $579 million to prepare the plant to assemble GM’s sixth-generation family of Small Block V-8 gas engines along with the related block, crank and head machining;
■ Michigan’s Bay City GPS: $216 million to prepare the facility to build camshafts, connecting rods and block/head machining supporting future V-8 production at Flint Engine Operations.
■ Ohio’s Defiance Operations: $55 million in the Defiance facility with $47 million to prepare it to build a variety of block castings to support the future V-8 engine program, and $8 million to build a development cell for castings to support future electric vehicle strategies.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor. The Beacon welcomes comments from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name.
Opportunities for employment. Unless of course you don’t have at least a high school diploma. Then you’re out of luck. I hope that this thought resonates with the RCSD system. They hold the key to any future employment opportunity. Lets see how they respond.