BUFFALO (AP) -- General Motors Co.'s western New York plant will be the biggest beneficiary of an $890 million investment in five plants announced by the automaker Tuesday to improve its V-8 engines.
The Tonawanda Engine plant near Buffalo will see $400 million in equipment upgrades and renovations to produce a fuel-efficient small block engine for cars and trucks, the automaker said.
The new line is expected to create 415 jobs and protect 300 existing positions, said Gov. David Paterson, who was at the plant for the announcement.
Paterson called the investment vital to western New York's auto industry and New York manufacturing as a whole. The state has lost 30,600 manufacturing jobs over the last year, according to the state Labor Department, with auto sector jobs accounting for much of the Buffalo area's losses.
"This is a major investment in the region's economy and ensures the long-term future of the Tonawanda engine plant," the governor said.
It is the second big investment to be announced this year at the Tonawanda plant, which last year saw two engine lines shut down as part of the automaker's bankruptcy restructuring. In February, GM said it would spend about $425 million on upgrades to begin building a new version of its four-cylinder Ecotec engine in 2012.
The Tonawanda plant, which 20 years ago employed 4,350 people, currently has 650 workers.
Plant manager Steve Finch and Bob Coleman, shop chairman of United Auto Workers Local 774, credited a good labor-management relationship for securing the new line.
The state will contribute a $6 million capital grant. Erie County has approved $880,000 in tax breaks.
The other GM plants included in Tuesday's announcement are in St. Catharine's, Ontario; Bay City, Mich.; Bedford, Ind.; and Defiance, Ohio.
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