Tag Archives: GM

GM awards $75,000 in grants to local charities

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, City of Kentwood, City of Wyoming, Environment, Our Cities, , ,

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
WKTV Managing Editor
joanne@wktv.org

To help educate potential new drivers on the dangers of driving impaired, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety will be purchasing a distracted and impaired driver simulator thanks to a $25,000 grant from GM Motors Corporate Giving.

GM Grand Rapids Operations Plant Director Troy Comiskey (center) announces the 2023 GM Corporate Giving grant recipients from the Grand Rapids area. (WTKV/Joanne Bailey-Boorsma)

The grant, which was given to the Wyoming Greater Resource Alliance for the public safety department’s use, was one of three grants awarded by the GM Grand Rapids Operations, which is located in Wyoming. The grants totaled $75,000 with the two other organizations also receiving $25,000 each was The Right Place and West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC).

“GM has made a concerted effort to bump up its local giving to the communities,” said Troy Comiskey, plant director for the Grand Rapids Operations. “They take corporate giving very seriously. They have upped it the last two years in a row with definitely a jump this year from the $10,000 mark to the $25,000 mark.” 

Through the GM Community Grant program, the company has donated around $3 million to a 157 charities over the last year in U.S. communities that surround GM manufacturing sites. Since its inception, GM’s Corporate Giving has investing has helped communities across the U.S. in a variety of initiatives focused on STEM, vehicle and road safety and community impact.

Comiskey noted that the giving has gone beyond just monetary but with many of the Grand Rapids Operations employees giving time to a variety of events such as Teach for the Watershed, the Mayor’s Grand River Clean-Up, and FIRST Robotics programs. He noted this is on top of employees working sometimes 40-plus hours a week and taking care of their own families that “they still find time for a couple of hours per week or month to help local communities.”

From left, Lt. Eric Wiler from the Wyoming Department of Public Safety, UAW Local 167 Chairman Chris Newman, The Right Place Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Brad Comment, WMEAC Director of Engagement Marshall A. Kilgore, and GM Grand Rapids Operations Plant Director Troy Comiskey (WKTV/Joanne N. Bailey-Boorsma)

Educating the Future about the Environment

One of the beneficiaries of that volunteer support has ben WMEAC which among its programs host the Teach for the Watershed. which is an interactive watershed education program based on Michigan Science Curriculum Standards, and the Mayor’s Grand River Cleanup, the state’s largest riverbank cleanup.

“We are so thankful to GM for this,” said Marshall A. Kilgore, WMEAC’s director of engagement. “This grant started back a few years ago at $200 with them kind enough to extend their philanthropy from $200 to $25,000.”

Kilgore said WMEAC has seen growth in its programs and through the grant will be able to reach more students about how to better take care of their environment.

“So we plan to use this money for the water that connects all of us here in West Michigan and also teach our youth how to be better stewards of their land, water and soil,” he said.

Making the Roads Safer

Lt. Eric Wiler said his department is working to purchase the distracted and impaired driver simulator which they are hoping to debut at this year’s National Night Out as well as other events, such as Metro Cruise. Plans are also in the works to bring the simulator to local school districts to educate potential new drivers about driving with cellphones or while intoxicated.

According to the Michigan State Police, 16,543 crashes in 2021 involving distracted driving. Fatal distracted driving crashes increased by 14% from 2020 to 2021. According to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, 3,522 people died because of districted driving in 2021.

To help combat the issue, the Michigan legislature passed a ban on using phones while driving in May.

Building a Workforce Pipeline

Brad Comment, senior vice president of strategic initiatives for The Right Place, said the organization plans to use its grant funding toward growing Michigan’s manufacturing, technology and life science sectors, which Comiskey had commented is “very near and dear to our heart here at GM because we have such a technical workforce.” 

Through its programs, Comment said The Right Place will continue to work to bring students into manufacturing facilities and introduce them to careers in manufacturing and technology. 

GM was started in 1908 by William C. Durant as a holding company for the Buick Car Company. Within two years, Durant brought some of the biggest names in the automotive industry, including Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Pontiac and the predecessors of GMC Truck. For more than 75 years, the GM Grand Rapids Operations, which is at 5100 Burlingame SW, has been producing high prevision, high volume automotive components for GM products as well as non-GM products. 

Photo of the Week: The First GM Stamping Plant

Citizen Journalism, , ,

Built in 1936, the GM Stamping Plant, once located on the corner of Buchanan Avenue and 36th Street in Wyoming, was the company’s first stamping plant and was known as Plant No. 1. The plant occupied two million square feet on 92 acres and at its peek, employed more than 3,000 people. In 2007, it would ship 213,091 tons of steel, which is the equivalent of 83,000 GMC Suburbans.

The plant would be one of the causalities of the early 2000s recession that impacted the auto industry with the announcement made in 2007 that it would close. Seventy-four years after opening, in 2010, the last employees left, posing for a Grand Rapids Press photo in front of the plant’s sign. In 2011, the city had the plant demolished.

This image is from a colored photographic lantern slide labeled “general view of stamping division of General Motors.” The slide is part of a slideshow about the GM Grand Rapids Stamping plant that was used by the Grand Rapids Public Museum for educational purposes. The slide is part of the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s collection.

Local businesses feel little from GM strike, but economist warns if it continues the economy could dip

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UAW Local 167 have been on strike for about a month. (Photo credit: WKTV)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Despite his own business wows with an electric bill at around $20,000, Mitten Pizza owner Jamie Zichterman did not blink an eye when it came to donating pizzas to the UAW Local 167.

“I think it was just the right thing to do,” Zichterman said. “Regardless of what type of issues we were facing, it was just something that we needed to.”

About 46,000 GM employees went on strike Sept. 15 which included 650 employees from Wyoming’s GM Holdings Components LCC, a subsidiary company of GM that makes auto parts.

The Mitten Pizza is located in Middleville with the nearest GM facility being the Wyoming plant. Because of the distance, the strike will have minimal impact on his business, Zicterman said, adding that he has seen an uptick in business that he credits to the amount of publicity he has had over his surprise electric bill of about $20,000 from Great Lakes Energy. Zichterman is currently trying to settle the bill with friends establishing a GoFundMe page to help pay it.

“What was surprising was to see the people coming in with UAW shirts buying pizzas and donating like crazy to the cause,” Zichterman said. “It shows if you do the right thing, good things will happen.”

Marilyn Free, manager of Marge’s Donut Den, said the Wyoming donut shop has not been impacted much by the strike either. 

“Other than people stopping to pick up donuts for those striking, no we have not seen anything,” Free said, adding that people have been purchasing three to four dozen donuts at a time along with coffee to go.

Brian Long is a local business forecaster. (Photo credit: GVSU)

Brian Long, director of Supply Management Research at Grand Valley State University’s Seidman College of Business, said in his monthly economics report, he is not surprised that there has not been much impact felt from the strike at this point since most of the local firms and businesses have diversified their customer bases.

“None of the firms in our survey is exclusively GM which was not the case from 20 years ago,” Long said. “Two of the firms I talked to indicated that they are actually stockpiling for GM. They figure that when GM does come out of this strike there is going to be a huge build up demand and they are going to need the parts that they are producing. However if this drags on for too long we may see some marginal layoffs.”

Long said regardless of the strike, the whole auto industry has been slowing down for 2019 with it being down about 1.6 percent on sales.

The Wyoming GM Components Holdings LLC has been building precision machined automotive components for almost 70 years. The plant makes such parts as lifters and the axle for full-size trucks. WKTV did contact a couple of local suppliers with one indicating that despite the warning on the GM Parts webpage about a delay in getting parts, they were able to continue fulfilling orders.

Todd Bartrand, owner of Wyoming’s Bob and Dave’s Garage, which like many similar independent garages purchase parts from suppliers and not directly from GM, indicated his business has not been impacted by the strike, yet.

“So far, so good,” Bartrand said. “I guess if it does not get resolved soon we might feel it, but for right now, we have not noticed anything.”

Congressmen Bill Huizenga (R) in a recent interview with Fox Business said he has reached out to a number of suppliers that supply GM. 

“Our suppliers are kind of mixed. Some of them are really afraid as they have slowed down and had to lay people off voluntarily that they may not be able to keep doing that voluntarily and they would have to do layoffs,” Huizenga said, adding that there is some concern that these employees would seek employment in other industries.

The strike is now four weeks old. UAW officials have stated that issues have been temporary employees becoming full-time GM workers, wages, pensions, and job security.

A GM spokesperson said “We continue to negotiate and exchange proposals, and it remains our goal to reach an agreement that builds a stronger future for our employees and our company.” For more information, visit the company’s website, buildingastrongerfuture.gm.com.

Walking the line: Three weeks in on GM strike, motivation still positive at local union

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, City of Wyoming, , ,
UAW Local 167 members walk the picket line at one of the entrances to the GM-Components Holdings LLC, located on the corner of Burlingame and Burton. (WKTV)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

On any given work day, Willie Holmes’ car would be one of about two in the parking lot of the UAW Local 167 office located at 1320 Burton St. SW.

However, this being day 19 of a nationwide UAW strike against GM, the 42-space parking lot is packed with vehicles as strikers head to their assigned posts and retirees come in to help prepare food and work on the organization’s newsletter.

“I’m a little tired,” said Holmes, who serves as the president of UAW Local 167, which represents employees at the GM-Components Holdings LLC, located at the corner of Burlingame and Burton in Wyoming.

Holmes does not look or act tired. He moves effortlessly through the hall, answering questions and talking to members and retirees.

“Actually things are going quite well,” Holmes said. “I think many of us didn’t expect the strike to happen so there was a little bit of chaos in the beginning as this is the first strike for many of us, but we got our groove going now.”

The last GM/UAW strike was in 2007 with about 73,000 employees striking for two days. The longest and largest GM/UAW strike was in 1970, which was 67 days and had about 343,000 GM employees striking in both the U.S. and Canada.

The parking lot at the UAW Local 167. (WKTV)

On Sept. 15, 46,000 GM workers went on strike, of which 650 employees are from the GM-Components Holdings in Wyoming. According to Holmes, there is about 137 employees still working at the plant as they support the Toyota line.

What many people do not understand is that the plant in Wyoming is a subsidiary to GM, Holmes said.

“Many have lumped us in with the traditional GM plants, saying that we make a $1,000 a week,” Holmes said. “I don’t make a $1,000 a week.”

Wages are one of the issues the UAW wants addressed as currently there is a three-tier system. For those at GM Components, a general employee who has been at the plant for 13 years makes about $22 per hour or $45,760 gross per year. The starting wage at a traditional GM plant, like the Lansing plant, is around $29 per hour. Temporary employees make $15.62 per hour.

“So for many of these temporary workers, they are working 10- to 12-hour shifts to make any money,” Holmes said. The union also wants a clear pathway for full-time employment for temporary employees. Currently there is none, according to Holmes.

“They are working one, two, three years,” Holmes said. “There is one temporary worker in Lansing who has been working for five years. That is five years of no profit sharing, no vacation days.”

While there are some places that temporary employees work well, the auto industry is not one of them, he said.

“That is another misconception in that it is grungy, basic work that anyone off the street can do,” Holmes said. “There is a lot of technology involved in auto manufacturing. You can’t just come in and push a button, you have to know why are you are pushing that button.”

From an Oct. 1 letter from UAW Vice President and Director Terry Dittes, other issues centered on health care costs, skilled trades and job security. A GM spokesperson said “We continue to negotiate and exchange proposals, and it remains our goal to reach an agreement that builds a stronger future for our employees and our company.” For more information, visit the ompany’s website, buildingastrongerfuture.gm.com.

“This is going to be historical,” Holmes said, adding that the negotiations will set a tone as to how employees in the auto industry and other places are treated. “It has been like a movement. I believe people are just tired of the greed. They are tried of being taking advantage of.”

One of the sheets listing those who have donated. (WKTV)

There has been community support with three large sheets of paper on the walls filled with individuals and businesses who have donating food and supplies in support of the union and its members.

The ripple effect of the strike also is being felt. Along with the Wyoming GM-Components Holdings, the UAW Local 167 also represents employees at Robert Bosch Fuel Systems, Challenge Manufacturing, Caravan, and North American Fuel Systems Remanufacturing. Holmes said work has slowed down with lay-offs happening at some of the businesses.

As to when the strike will end, Holmes could not predict, but the local is looking to extend services to its members and their families by offering a food pantry, a diaper drive and other resources such as financial planning. Recently, members started receiving $250 a week in strike pay, which is only a portion of an employee’s paycheck — temporary or permanent.

“We have worked to help members get deferred rent payments, deferred car payments,” Holmes said. “We are bringing people in to talk to members about spending and how to budget on a modified income.”

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

3-bottom, City of Wyoming, Community Health, , , ,
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.

Five local organizations recipients of GM Foundation grants totaling $25,000

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Members of the various organizations that received grant monies totaling $25,000 braved the rain to participate in this year's 28th Street Metro Cruise.
Members of the various organizations that received grant monies totaling $25,000 braved the rain to participate in this year’s 28th Street Metro Cruise.

For almost a year the Blue Star Moms have been working to raise $40,000 to renovate the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans’ community room, the Cozy Corners.

 

“They have done a fantastic job and received a $30,000 grant from SpartanNash Company [owners of Family Fare, D&W and other grocery stores],” said Tiffany Carr, director of member and community relations for the home. Carr also works with the Finish the Mission Veterans Relief Fund. Along with the Freedom Cruise, the Finish the Mission Veterans Relief Fund focuses on capital improvement projects for the home along with assisting individual veterans.

 

“The Blue Star Moms came to us about the Cozy Corners project and we said, ‘How much do you need?'” Carr said, adding that the $5,000 grant received from the GM Foundation on Saturday during the 28th Street Metro Cruise will help wrap up the fundraising efforts so that renovation on the community room could start in the next 30 days.

 

For the past several years GM has recognized and supported local organizations that help with a number of projects within the community. The GM Community Grants program, funded by the GM Foundation, is providing $2 million to hundreds of organizations in 47 communities where GM employees live and work. Of that amount, $25,000 was awarded to the General Motors Grand Rapids Components Operations in Wyoming to give to local organizations.

 

“We actually start the process by surveying our employees,” said Grand Rapids Components Operations Personal Director Dale Johnson. “We ask them where they are volunteering and what organizations they are participating with.”

 

From there, the list of possible organizations are reviewed with the goal being to select a broad spectrum of groups with various initiatives, health, education, human services, environmental and community development, Johnson said. This Grand Rapids Components Operations awarded $5,000 grants to five organizations: Finish the Mission Veterans Relief Fund, Feeding America, the YWCA, the West Michigan Environmental Action Council and the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance.

 

The Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance provides scholarships for Wyoming families to participate in health, wellness and recreational activities. City Manager Curtis Holt said the Alliance has been the recipient of grants from GM in the past and are honored to have again been selected again this year.

 

“It’s a real honor to know that the employees were the ones who help select the groups,” said YWCA Development Community Coordinator Amber Jones. The YWCA plans to use its grant for its Girls Inc. Leadership and Community Action program which is designed to help foster future leaders in the communities where people live.

 

“Our primary services focus on sexual assault and domestic violence,” Jones said. “We have a pressing need for help after something has happened and do not always have the funds for prevention. This money will be specifically set aside for that program.”

 

The West Michigan Environmental Action Council will use its funds for the Teach for the Watershed program at Godfrey Lee Elementary School. This program teaches science in the field and the stream with mentors from GM volunteering to help the students learn about science and to make a connection between science-based careers. The money also will help with the 13th Annual Mayors’ Grand River Clean Up set for Sept. 10.

 

The Feeding America – West Michigan Food Bank will use its grant toward the support of its School Mobile Pantries which has feed more than 1,200 families during a four-month period. At Parkview Elementary, less than a mile from the GM facility, the School Mobile Pantry distributes 7,500 pounds of fresh produce, dairy products, and grains.

 

 

Wyoming Welcomes Kendall Electric

Local Business, Our Cities, , , ,

Former GM Employee Parking Lot will See Changes

by Terri Yochum

Former GM employee parking lot sits waiting to be transformed.
Former GM employee parking lot sits waiting to be transformed.

After four years of vacancy, the former General Motors property on Clay Avenue in Wyoming claims its first new resident: J.O. Galloup and Smith Instruments, subsidiaries of Kendall Electric. The combined Kendall Electric businesses will occupy one state of the art facility on a seven acre parcel of the old GM plant, now referred to as Site 36.

Martin Ranly, Kendall Electric president and chief executive officer was quoted in the Southwest Advance as saying, “We are extremely excited to continue investing in the West Michigan business market by relocating our J.O. Galloup operations to Wyoming.” He continued to say that he hopes the many customers they have here will see this move as an investment in the future of all companies involved.

According to Ranly, the location fits perfectly with the needs of the business expansion because of its infrastructure and accessibility. In addition to housing 95 J.O. employees, the 100,000-square-foot facility will be eligible for a 12 year tax exemption and brownfield redevelopment dollars of up to $250,000.

J.O. Galloup is a premier distributor of pipe, valves, fittings and associated materials. Their mission, according to a company spokesperson, is to be the first choice as an employer, as a supplier, and as a partner to their vendors. Smith Instruments, also a subsidiary of Kendall Electric, is a leading representative of industrial and automation products. Spokespeople from both companies believe this venture will be a wise union.

Meanwhile Wyoming City Manager Curtis Holt says that the city is committed to growing companies locally through a system of ‘Economic Gardening.’ “This is a process by which big employers help smaller, existing businesses to grow. We want to see our local businesses do well.”

According to Holt, Economic Gardening helps promote the growth of existing local business in three ways:

First, by providing critical information needed by businesses to survive and thrive;  second, by developing and cultivating an infrastructure that goes beyond the basic physical infrastructure and includes quality of life, a culture that embraces growth and change, and access to intellectual resources, including qualified and talented employees; and third, by developing connections between businesses and the people and organizations that can help take them to the next level such as business associations, universities, roundtable groups, service providers and more.

“If your local business is growing, we can help you and want to work with you,” Holt said.

The City of Wyoming, together with development companies Lornax Stern and The Right Place, are working to redevelop and market the Site 36 property. “We are expecting to announce the inclusion of one more company very soon,” added Holt.

The vast majority of business owners in the surrounding area are excited about the Kendall project because the new addition will fill in some of the existing emptiness. “We’re pleased to see development picking up in the Wyoming area,” Roger Morgenstein, senior public information director for Consumers Energy said. “We are eagerly awaiting this first arrival.”