By Mark Schadenberg
When
you think about car production for the 'Big Three' in Ontario, you
think about Oakville, Windsor, Oshawa and Ingersoll. When you
consider Honda and Toyota as well, centres like Woodstock, Cambridge
and Barrie (Alliston) certainly enter the conversation.
Thursday,
Feb 12 marked great news for the Ingersoll area economy as General
Motors announced it would be investing an additional $560 million
into the 27-year-old CAMI (Canadian Automotive Manufacturing Inc)
production facility.
With
3,000 full-time employees working three shifts, and the
soon-to-be-introduced new generation for the Chevrolet Equinox, the
GM announcement is huge news for all of southern Ontario.
CAMI
union boss (Unifor Local 88) Mike VanBoekel (Pictured in a Leafs
jersey in late 2014 when CAMI announced its massive $573,855 total donation
to United Way to be divided by Oxford and London / Middlesex
campaigns) was very pleased to hear the official news, saying to
Woodstock's Heart FM: “On
behalf of our membership I do like to thank all the customers out
here who drive our vehicles, it keeps us in business.
"So
we are still going incredibly strong now so all this will mean will
be job stability probably for the next 5-10 years going out probably
8-10 years for sure. It looks very good for the CAMI plant."
A
plant expansion of 350,000 square feet has also been part of recent
great news – you could say this additional great news is above and
beyond the addition.
Besides
the Equinox, the GMC Terrain is another popular vehicle on the
Ingersoll assembly line.
Topping
off this investment, especially considering the overall economy is
only about six years past a historic down-turn in the auto industry,
is that the GM dollars are not attached to funding or grants from an
upper tier of government.
The
infusion will be directed to the plant's weld shop, according to
various press clippings.
The
investment announcement was made at the Canadian International Auto
Show in Toronto.
GM
Canada president Steve Carlisle (profile below), who is originally
from Woodstock, noted the cash will be used for $190 million in
equipment purchasing for the Ingersoll locale.
With
this economic upswing news, federal officials in Ottawa were sure to
comment.
"We
are pleased to see General Motors securing its future in Southern
Ontario," federal industry minister James Moore said in a
Canadian Press story. "This investment proves that … Canada
[is] one of the best places in the world to build cars."
The
Equinox, according another widely circulated press story, is the
second best selling GM product in the United States, and that 75% of
the Ingersoll-built vehicles are destined for that market. Further
from that same story: CAMI turned out 312,198 Equinox and Terrain models last year, up 1 per
cent from 307,935 in 2013.
LINKS:
The success of CAMI is just one more reason
to consider living in Oxford County
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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