What to Do With a Vacant GM Plant

Hope grows when city, county and state come together for business

OKLAHOMA CITY, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- As General Motors enters Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection, the company has announced the closing of 14 plants
across the country, leaving many communities to wonder, "What to do with a
vacant GM plant?"

When GM closed its plant in Oklahoma City, the community pondered that very
question concerning the 3.8 million-square-foot factory and the 430 acres on
which it sits, but not for long...

The city, county and state had a plan.

Through the leadership of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, the three
entities rallied to purchase the former GM assembly plant and repurpose it to
support Oklahoma's thriving aerospace industry - more specifically for use by
Tinker Air Force Base. Tinker AFB is the Air Force's largest and most
significant base due to its emphasis on maintenance, repair and overhaul of
military aircraft and engines. Located in the center of Oklahoma, Tinker AFB
employs 26,000 and accounts for $2 billion in state revenue.

According to Roy Williams, president and CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City
Chamber, the Tinker Aerospace Complex has the potential to create thousands of
new jobs.

"This provides a significant benefit to the many public-private partnerships
that have become the hallmark of Tinker's success," Williams said.

Oklahoma's benefits from repurposing a former GM plant include:
-- Recoup lost jobs
-- Repurpose major infrastructure
-- Increase growth of the state's aerospace industry
-- Bring new business opportunities for the private sector

Although the overall benefits of the newly renovated plant have yet to be
reported, in a previous interview with Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, he
commented about the relationships forged throughout the process.

"The officials at Tinker are enthused, the Pentagon is impressed, and it helps
solidify our relationship with the most important economic driver we have,"
Cornett said.

The transformation of Oklahoma City's former GM plant came quickly.

Just a few months following GM's announcement to close the plant, Oklahoma
County voters approved a $55 million bond issue to buy the property and lease
it back to the Air Force for $1 a year in exchange for retrofitting the plant
and using it to replace aging maintenance buildings.

SOURCE Greater Oklahoma City Chamber

Jason McCarty of Oklahoma Department of Commerce, +1-405-815-5320,
jason_mccarty@okcommerce.gov; or Sam Sims, APR of Jones Public Relations,
Inc., +1-405-516-9686, sam@jonesprinc.com, both for Greater Oklahoma City
Chamber