Tag Archives: General Motors

Wyoming Police Department teach dangers of distracted and impaired driving with new simulator

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The Wyoming Police Department prepare to educate the community on the dangers of distracted and impaired driving with a new driving simulator (Courtesy, WKTV)

By Deborah Reed

deborah@wktv.org

A significant increase in traffic violations, crashes, and fatal traffic crashes in Wyoming prompts the Wyoming Police Department to acquire a new driving simulator to educate young drivers.

Through a generous donation made by General Motors, the Wyoming PD recently took possession of a distracted and impaired driving simulator to educate young drivers on the dangers of distracted and impaired driving.

Educating the community

A volunteer tries the simulator under the instruction of a WPD officer (Courtesy, Deborah Reed WKTV)

“The goal of the simulator is to let young drivers – any driver – get into it and see what those dangers are,” said Captain Eric Wiler of the Wyoming Police Department. “At the same time hopefully reducing some of our crashes, reducing our fatal crashes, and making our community more safe.”

Wiler added that the Wyoming PD has made it their goal to reduce the number of crashes they have recently seen.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that approximately 3,000 people die each year in crashes involving distracted drivers, and approximately 11,000 people die each year in alcohol-impaired driving crashes.

Among distracted driving crashes, a higher percentage of drivers between the ages of 15-20 were distracted than those drivers over the age of 21.

A survey conducted by the CDC found that 4 in 10 high school drivers reported that they had texted and/or emailed while driving at least once in the previous 30 days. Another CDC study showed that 5% of high school students surveyed reported that they drove after drinking alcohol within the previous 30 days.

General Motors partnership with Wyoming PD

The idea of a distracted driving simulator is appealing to the Wyoming PD because of the ability to transport it to schools and community events. They also like that it is a way to interact with younger drivers.

General Motors provided an opportunity for volunteers to experience the new simulator at their Grand Rapids operations plant (Courtesy, Deborah Reed WKTV)

“We’ve had a partnership with GM for several years where they give us a generous donation for traffic safety,” said Wiler. “This year, we were trying to think of something that we could interact more with the community, especially young drivers in our community, because distracted driving seems to be focused more around the younger drivers. They just don’t understand a lot of the dangers that are associated with it.

“They can look, touch, feel, have it be more interactive than just a classroom environment,” Wiler continued.

How the simulator works

The driving simulator engages two cell phones – an instructor cell phone and a student cell phone.

“As the student starts the driving simulation, the instructor can send them text messages,” said Wiler.

The messages can be pre-populated or freeform text messages.

There is also a component that allows simulation of impaired driving. Goggles worn by the simulator driver mimic being under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The importance of removing distractions

Wyoming City Manager John Shay tries out Wyoming PD’s new distracted and impaired driving simulator (Courtesy, Deborah Reed WKTV)

With the combination of the simulator and the hands-free law that went into effect June 30th, Wiler hopes people will see “why it’s such an important law, and why it’s so important that we put down our phones, [and] limit the distractions we have in the car.

“There is research that shows that when we are distracted, we don’t see 50% of what’s out in front of us,” Wiler continued. “Even if it’s a cell phone, looking down at your navigation, looking at your radio – anything you’re doing that is distracting is reducing what you are seeing out in front of you, which increases the likelihood of being involved in a crash.”

The Wyoming Police Department will use the driving simulator during school and community events, such as National Night Out, Metro Cruise, Concerts in the Park, and Police in the Parks.

“I am hoping it will have a really strong impact,” said Wiler.

Three non-profits that service the Wyoming/ Kentwood communities get a little thanks in the form of a GM grant

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GM Components Holdings Planet Manager Troy Comiskey (far left) and UAW Local 167 Bargaining Chair Martin Wood (far right) presented $30,000 in GM Community Impact Grants at the 28th Street Metro Cruise. (WKTV)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

As plant manager of Wyoming’s GM Components Holdings, Troy Comiskey can tell you a lot about the facility located at 2100 Burlingame Ave. SW, such as the plant added 330 new jobs last year when it opened its axle department last year.

But the highlights for Comiskey, who has been with the plant for about a year, is the dedication the team has to helping better its community.

“Last year, for the mayor’s river clean-up, we filled a bus with volunteers who worked on both the Buck Creek and the Grand River,” Comiskey said.

Martin Wood, the bargaining chair for Local 167, the union that represents many of the employees at GM Components Holdings, said the team at the plant has had a long history of giving back to its community.

“The members of Local 167 do a lot in the community from working with robotics programs to helping collect school supplies for area schools,” Wood said. “Today it is just great to be highlighting some of the organizations that we work with that give back to our community.”

On Aug. 24, Comiskey and Wood were at the 2019 Metro Cruise to present $30,000 in GM Community Impact Grants, funded by GM Corporate Giving, to three organizations that provide services to the Wyoming and Kentwood communities. The organizations, each receiving $10,000, were the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance, West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC), and Kids Food Basket.

“Last year, we were able to use the money to bring in the distracted driving simulator to two different high schools,” said the City of Wyoming Chief Kim Koster, who received the check for the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance. The Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance has received money from the GM Corporate Giving program for the past several years.

“This year we are planning to purchase several portable speed detectors,” Koster said, adding that these detectors have been helpful in monitoring speeds on local roads.

“They provide a way for drivers to self monitor how fast they are going,” she said. “They have proven to be very efficient in that a driver is able to see the speed they are going and self adjust. They see they are exceeding the limit and slowdown.”

Koster said how many monitors would be purchased and where they would be located still had to be determined.

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Another organization that has received GM Community Impact Grants in the past is WMEAC. The organization uses the funds to support its Teach for the Watershed at Godfrey Lee Public Schools. The program is a hands-on opportunity for students in kindergarten through sixth grade to learn about their watershed, storm water contamination, and what the students can do to prevent pollution. The funs also helped to support WMEAC’s Annual Mayors’ Grand River Cleanup, the largest annual river clean up in Michigan. 

Receiving its first GM Community Impact Grant was the Kids Food Basket, which provides sack suppers to at-risk children who are in food-insecure households. Kids Food Basket provides meal to children who attend schools in the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming.

The GM Community Impact Grants program this year will provide nearly $2.3 million in funding to hundreds of organizations in 47 communities where GM employed live and work. Of that amount, $30,000 was awarded to the GM Components Holdings LLC in Wyoming to give to local organizations.

City goals unchanged as Wyoming Site36 project gains new partner

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The mostly empty Site36 industrial area off 36th Street SW in Wyoming, from the marketing material of Franklin Partners. (Supplied)

By K.D. Norris

ken@wktv.org

 

Late last year, the City of Wyoming signed an agreement with Franklin Partners, based in the Chicago area but with an office in Grand Rapids, to ramp-up redevelopment of an abandoned General Motors metal stamping plant, the Site36 industrial area off 36th Street SW just east of Highway 131.

 

One of the possible layouts of Site36 site off 36th Street SW in Wyoming, from the marketing material of Franklin Partners. (Supplied)

While the company is pushing forward with a marketing campaign, including drawings depicting multiple possible industrial uses and building layouts for possible sales or lease of portions of the about 92-acre property, Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt says the city’s goals have not changed — they want the land redeveloped into industrial uses to take advantage of already in-place infrastructure.

 

The city also continues to be motivated to work with businesses looking at the site, including tax incentives and other actions.

 

Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt. (WKTV

“We are not looking for leasing options; we are looking for sales,” Holt said this week. “That doesn’t mean the Franklin Partners will not offer that as an option with them holding ownership of a particular site. The purpose of the marketing material is more about showing people what is possible and opening potential owners eyes to ideas that they may not have considered.”

 

Also according to Franklin Partners marketing materials, “The City of Wyoming is motivated to attract new jobs and can offer significant state and local tax incentives to attract large users to the site. … The City has also indicated that it is willing to provide an industrial facilities tax abatement (IFT) for future industrial development. This allows for a nearly 50% abatement of future property taxes on new buildings for up to twelve (12) years. The existence of both a brownfield plan and the City’s expressed willingness to work with future owners/tenants on these and other incentives sets this site apart from others.”

 

Holt says the incentives are also nothing new, as far as the city’s efforts to redevelop the site.

 

“This city has a track record of being very supportive of our business community,” Holt said. “We all have maintained the same principles about Site 36 from the very beginning. Our main goal is jobs, specifically quality jobs available to our residents. With jobs, other indirect benefits will be realized by the city.”

 

The site, with about 80 acres of  “contiguous, shovel ready, manufacturing infrastructure,” according to Franklin Partners, is between Clay and Buchanan avenues south of 36th. According to multiple sources, it was purchased by the city’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority in 2010, after GM closed the plant in 2006 ending nearly 70 years of operation.

 

According to Holt, the City Council has had no additional discussion with Franklin Partners “since the agreement was executed to work with them as the developer of the site,” but “I know that Franklin Partners is continuing to work on marketing, site preparation and generating potential contacts as they begin to market the site.”

 

Franklin reportedly plans to remove a pedestrian bridge over 36th Street, built to connect the GM plant to a parking lot north of 36th Street, as well as to clean up the site after years of accumulated undergrowth and debris.

 

One of the possible layouts of Site36 site off 36th Street SW in Wyoming, from the marketing material of Franklin Partners. (Supplied)

According to Franklin Partners marketing materials, the site — in addition to its access to US-131 and the Grand Elk Railroad yard — has its own Consumers Energy sub-station with up to 41 megawatt of dedicated power at T-1 rates, and can accommodate new facilities from 100,000 square feet up to 1,000,000 square feet. High-pressure natural gas and municipal water and sewer are also available on-site.

 

The city had been working with local entries The Right Place and NAI Wisinski, but, after being on the market for about four years, leaders expect that bringing Franklin Partners into the mix will get the effort moving once again.

 

“Franklin Partners’ history and reputation in West Michigan are very good,” Holt said. “We have worked with Franklin Partners on several projects and found them to be professional, knowledgeable and well connected. They have experience working with us and the projects we have worked together on have been extremely successful. We believe that relationship will assist us in redevelopment of the site.”

 

GM Set to Invest 43 Million into Wyoming Plant

Area Education, Hard News, Local Business, Our Cities, , ,

General MotorsBack in June, General Motors announced a $119 million dollar investment into its Grand Rapids Operations plant as part of the company’s commitment to invest $1 billion in Michigan by 2030.

GM announced today they will be investing another $43.35 million for power train components at the 1600 Burton Street location. The new investment will create 55 new jobs while retaining 15 jobs.

“This investment signifies a commitment to the men and women of Grand Rapids Operations and their dedication to produce precision machined automotive components to support numerous GM product applications used in a variety of Buick, Chevrolet, GMC and Cadillac vehicles,” said Grand Rapids Operations Plant Manager Rick Demuynck.

The plant currently employs 530 employees , 400 hourly and 130 salaried.

“This commitment not only reflects confidence in the Grand Rapids team, along with the leadership of the UAW, but also showcases the sense of ownership and pride our employees have in the products they build,” explained Demuynk.

Investing in manufacturing here in West Michigan is a win for the entire community.