Southern Automaking: sponsored information - Brief Article

Automotive Industries,  July, 2002  

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Approximately 800 jobs are expected to be created by the influx of suppliers. Eight Tier One suppliers have already made verbal commitments to locate in the area, with more expected to follow in the next few years. The Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and the City of Shreveport are hoping to bring in at least 20, but competition is fierce.

Southern cities such as Canton, Mississippi, and Lincoln, Alabama, have put out the welcome mat to companies like Nissan and Honda. And the East Texas cities of Marshall, Longview and Kilgore are also in the hunt. But Louisiana is fighting back. David Berzina, the Chamber's senior vice president for economic development, said he "strongly believes GM is positioned in a strategic location in what is called automotive alley." The state has increased its tax credit for automakers to $5,000 per-job-created and added a ten-year 100 percent tax abatement in hopes of attracting employers. According to a study commissioned by the Shreveport Chamber, tax savings for a company building a plant in the city and employing more than 100 people would be nearly $2.3 million dollars over 10 years when compared to neighboring Texas cities.

Annual reports within the last few years reveal GM's efforts to streamline the production process and replace aging structures by building new assembly plants capable of operating around the clock and flexible enough to be used for producing more than one type of vehicle. The new Shreveport plant will be just such a site.

Although there are still some unknowns associated with the new facility, such as whether or not it will need more than the current 2,500 employees, the one thing that is known is that it will be home to the Chevy Colorado. The new midsize, truck will serve as the replacement for the Chevy S-10 and GMC Sonoma which have the been produced at the existing GM plant in Shreveport for the past 20 years. Not a lot is known about the Colorado except that it will offer more room and horsepower on a larger platform.

Construction of the new facility is scheduled to be completed by year's end. The skeleton has taken shape as the iron girders which serve as its bones have been hoisted into place. The concrete floor is being put down at a thickness of approximately 4 feet so that it will be able to bear the weight of the plant's machinery. It's that machinery which will soon be brought to life, and with it will rest the hopes and dreams of all those employees who will depend upon it for their livelihoods.

So, you'll forgive them if they seem a little anxious. They have reason to be. The advent of just-in-time production and the 15 or more suppliers moving into the area in the next year will certainly transform Shreveport into an automotive cluster on Interstate 20.

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