GM to close Delaware plant - UPDATES
AP says General Motors' Boxwood Road plant at Stanton, near Wilmington, will close this year. Wilmington Trust Co. will serve as trustee for GM's bankruptcy.
General Motors' Boxwood Road plant at Stanton, near Wilmington, will close this year, says AP, citing company source. Story here.
That would idle the Philadelphia area's last 450 autoworkers, who make cars for GM's doomed Saturn and Pontiac brands. The plant used to employ around 2,000. Chrysler's Newark, Del. plant, which employed 3,000 in the 1990s, closed last year. GM's Spring Hill, Tenn. Saturn plant, once hailed as the company's salvation, also to close.
NEW: Del. Gov. Jack Markell confirms closing; says he worked w Sen Carper (D), Rep Castle (R) "in frequent contact" with GM officials, and told Obama "car czar" Rattner "the state would be willing to offer assistance if GM would idle the plant instead of closing the facility"; notes "GM has sent many strong signals in the past few years that it was leaning toward closing this plant, but that does not make this news any less unfortunate or soften its impact on the workers and their families;" promises state-funded "training and assistance."
"Doug" from the "GM Reinvention Team" writes: "GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson will be holding a live chat Thursday at 3 p.m. EST at fastlane.gmblogs.com to take your questions. You can also check out www.gmreinvention.com for news on GM's progress and visit www.twitter.com/gmblogs for real-time news."
EARLIER: Wilmington Trust Co. will be GM's bankruptcy trustee, which should keep a few lawyers and accountants busy for years. But the case was filed in New York, and a New York law firm will do a lot of the heavy lifting. Announcement here.