When General Motors was opening its Arlington plant almost 60 years ago, a statement by the corporation's president a year earlier was catching on around the country.
"What was good for the country was good for General Motors, and vice versa," Charles Erwin Wilson told a Senate committee in 1953 during his confirmation hearings for secretary of defense.It didn't take long for that comment to evolve into the cliché, "As goes GM, so goes the nation." And in 2009, when the once-largest company in the United States filed for bankruptcy and took a $50 billion bailout from the federal government, the words seemed to ring true as a sardonically grim prophecy.Without arguing the merits of the bailout, it's fair to say GM has emerged from bankruptcy a leaner, stronger and different company. It has regained its profitability and reclaimed its title as the world's largest automaker.It's too bad the national economy hasn't recovered as quickly. The overall economic outlook remains bleak, with the Congressional Budget Office predicting this week that the unemployment rate will continue to creep upward through the final quarter of 2013.But despite the sluggish economy, what has been good for GM has been good for Arlington -- and vice versa.Since convincing the company to build an assembly plant in the city, Arlington officials have continued to exhibit vision and determination in partnering with GM to keep the local facility operating and prospering even in times when the corporation was closing plants in other states, including its home in Michigan.Of course, it didn't hurt that the Arlington plant was producing some of the company's most popular vehicles.That spirit of cooperation and mutual commitment are evident in the recent announcements by the city and GM about expansion of the Truck Assembly Plant and construction of a $200 million sheet metal stamping facility, bringing the company's total new investments in Arlington to $500 million.For their part, city officials last month approved a 10-year, 90 percent tax abatement for the company on new buildings and equipment if it brought the stamping plant to town. It is the same deal the city made with GM when the automaker decided on a $331 million expansion of its body shop and retooling project. Together, they will save GM about $2.2 million a year in taxes.The agreements are good for both parties, and for the economy of North Texas. General Motors has 2,500 employees at the assembly plant; the expansion will add 110 jobs, and the stamping operation means an additional 180 positions.Arlington was a logical choice for the stamping plant, which will produce parts like fenders, doors and hoods. The company currently spends about $40 million a year to ship those parts to Texas from as far as 1,000 miles away. It makes sense to have those products produced next door to the assembly plant.This commitment makes it clear that, as long as GM has a future, so does its facility in Arlington, which has manufactured three generations of the popular full-sized SUVs.The company recently announced that a new generation of those vehicles will be made in Arlington.Last year, GM's vehicle sales rose 7.6 percent over 2010, with more than 9 million vehicles sold. With this economy, no one can predict that success will continue at that rate. But if the company remains both competitive and aggressive with new innovations and model designs, who's to say that it won't stay at the top for years to come?And as it prospers, so will its North Texas partner.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
