WYOMING, Mich. - The latest Chevrolet Silverado and GMC pickup trucks will now have axles made in West Michigan following a $119 million expansion at the GM Components Holdings plant.
The 520,000-square-foot renovation of the plant's southern end started at the beginning of 2016, said Launch Operations Manager Joe Frish. The addition saw 46 new job stations.
"We [now] make a front and a rear axle," Frish said. "We also manufacture gears that go into those axles. This is, in my mind, a huge opportunity to get back into the axle business."
Previously the axles for the two pickup models were supplied by a competing company. Now, around 300 new employees hired during the expansion will assist in the local production.
About 90 percent of the new hires have been local, Frish said. There are now approximately 885 employees at the plant, which also produces components for engines at the north end of the building.
The job growth from the plant and other local developments is driving up the housing market, said Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt, who attended the demonstration at 2100 Burlingame Ave. SW.
"It's very difficult to buy a home in Wyoming," Holt said. "And I think that much of that is because of all the new employment we have. Whether it's here, whether it's Gordon Foods, Metro Hospital, whatever those things are...people want to live here. People want to be a part of this work environment and where the jobs are."
The investment also included the addition of self-guiding lifts, which assist the employees in making the parts.
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