GM impact on county uncertain

It's not clear yet what impact the restarting of assembly operations at the General Motors Co. plant in Spring Hill will have on Bedford County, but officials say that when the plant was at its peak, it had a definite impact on growth in the northwestern portion of the county.

Unionville is about a 45-minute drive from Spring Hill.

Robert Ralston, principal of Community High School in Unionville, said that at one point, his student population was growing by 8-10 percent each year. That growth stopped about the time the economy turned sour and the GM plant laid off 2,000 workers.

Ralston said he's not sure how much of the change is directly attributable to the GM plant and how much is attributable to the economy in general.

Little change

In any case, the school hasn't lost any of that population.

"We have not lost," said Ralston. "We have not grown."

Ralston said he's sure the reopening of the plant will have some sort of impact on his student population, but whether that impact is major or minor will likely depend on the balance between how many of those hired by the plant are already living in the area and how many come from elsewhere.

Nearly 30 years

The Spring Hill facility was originally opened in the 1980s as the headquarters and first assembly plant for GM's newly-created Saturn division.

A 2004 labor agreement brought the Saturn employees under the same contract as their counterparts in other GM divisions and opened the door for changes at the plant, with Saturn production moving elsewhere and other GM models moving to Spring Hill.

Assembly operations were shut down at Spring Hill in 2009, the same year that GM entered bankruptcy protection and received federal assistance. The end of assembly operations at Spring Hill resulted in layoffs for more than 2,000 workers.

The Saturn brand, long since moved away from Spring Hill, was discontinued by GM a year ago. Even so, area residents often still refer to the GM facility as "the Saturn plant" out of force of habit.

New start

The plant is now scheduled to reopen vehicle assembly lines next year, creating 1,700 new jobs. When added to the employees who are already assembling engines at the site, the total employment is expected to be about 2,200. GM has said it will invest $61 million for one midsize car and add 600 jobs, while it will spend $358 million on another midsize car with 1,100 jobs created.

GM has not said which cars will be built at the plant but the jobs are expected to be up and running sometime next year.

United Auto Workers Local 1853 President Mike O'Rourke told The Associated Press there will be entry-level workers at Spring Hill but laid off UAW workers will not be pushed aside.

"Nobody gets displaced," he said. "We will get our people who need to get called back called back."

Flexibility

GM Chief Financial Officer Dan Amman told The Associated Press last week the plant will have flexibility to make "distinctly different vehicles" and be ready to quickly adjust to changing market demand.

Amman declined to give a date for the restart or say if there is a limit on entry-level workers.

--Associated Press reports contributed to this story.