: Stamping plant statement has roots with 2007 state loan
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Spanish automotive stamping firm has leased the shuttered stamping plant in South Charleston and could finally occupy up to 700 workers there, officials voiced Tuesday.
A group from Gestamp, that has 120 operations worldwide, is already in the near-empty South Charleston facility.
The company, that is value $11 billion and has contracts with "almost every" leading automotive company, will occupy about 175 people inside of 12 to 16 months and 400 to 500 inside of 3 to 5 years, West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Keith Burdette said. Gestamp skeleton to have employees working there by late summer or early fall, he said.
"They have sufficient space here to do a lot of things and as the boss of the firm mentioned ... they didn't franchise it to leave it empty," Burdette said. "They're going to expand it up and use it and if they do that they're going to inecure a lot of people."
Gestamp boss and CEO Jeff Wilson was out of the nation and not able to to attend the announcement, Burdette said.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin done the statement Tuesday on the building's parking lot.
Ray Park has owned the office building given 1969, according to Gazette reports. Over the years, he's leased it to American Motors Corp., Chrysler Corp, Volkswagen of America Inc., Checker Motors Corp., Mayflower and Union Stamping Assembly.
In 2006, Union Stamping and Assembly spoken failure after association members declined to make a turn of concessions that would have significantly embellished salary that averaged about $17.20 an hour. The plant had scarcely 800 workers in 2004.
The subsequent to year, Park committed to investing $20 million toward the facility's renovations. The state, beneath then-Gov. Joe Manchin's administration, invested $15 million as well. Manchin, a Democrat, is right away West Virginia's! subordi nate U.S. senator.
"This was a complete partnership between in isolation enterprise, state and local government," Manchin mentioned in a ready statement. "As commissioner at the time, we knew we indispensable to make the investments in the site that would capture a high quality employer similar to Gestamp to South Charleston, and that is precisely what has happened.
Manchin went on to appreciate Park for his prophesy about the facility.
"These are the variety of investments we contingency go on to make and the partnerships we contingency go on to form to keep the state and the manage to buy competitive. we extol the efforts of Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, together with the expertise and bravery of Mayor Frank [Mullens] and the South Charleston City Council in creation today's statement possible."
Kanawha County Commission boss Kent Carper attributed Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin with working to free the stamping plant. Naysayers mentioned the office building would e bulldozed and the jobs mislaid forever, Carper said.