GM investing $133M to add third stamping press at Missouri plant
by Canadian Manufacturing Daily Staff
Wentzville Assembly and Stamping plant outside St. Louis home to automaker's full-size vans
WENTZVILLE, Mo.—General Motors is investing $133-million to add a third stamping press at a 30-year-old plant in America’s mid-west.
The automaker says the investment to build a new 114,000-square-foot stamping plant—the third such facility at its Wentzville Assembly and Stamping plant about 65 kilometres west of St. Louis—will create or retain approximately 55 jobs.
Opened in 1983, the Wentzville plant is home to GM’s Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana full-size vans, and is undergoing a $380-million construction project for the automaker’s next-generation Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon midsize pickup trucks.
“Our investment in a third stamping press is a win for the business, Wentzville employees and our customers,” GM North America manufacturing manager Larry Zahner said in a statement.
“Stamping parts where we assemble vehicles improves manufacturing efficiency and contributes to the high level of quality our customers deserve.”
The plant in Wentzville is home to an estimated 3.7 million square feet of manufacturing space on 438 acres of land in the city’s east end.
It currently employs approximately 2,000 employees across two shifts.
Ground was broken on the first stamping plant on the Wentzville site in May 1996.
GM says construction on the new stamping plant will get underway in July, with the press expected to be operational by early 2015.
The automaker also announced plans to invest $691-million in a trio of assembly plants in Mexico.
