Kansas City, KS seems to be the blooming flower in the state lately. General Motors’ Fairfax assembly plant has annoucced that in January, a third shift will be coming to the plant which will provide 945 new jobs, providing an unexpected large boost to Kansas City’s economy.
Essentially all of the hiring will transfer employees from idled and closing GM plants because Fairfax, in Kansas City, Kan., has no laid-off workers to recall, said Jeff Manning, president of United Auto Workers Local 31.
“It’s great for the Kansas City economy, people coming to Kansas City to make money and spend money,” Manning said.
The third shift will come on top of 375 jobs that Fairfax added thanks to its production of the Buick LaCrosse this summer. The plant also builds the Chevrolet Malibu and the Saturn Aura.
Making the Farifax plant a more vital part of GM not only creates jobs but it brings more revenue to KCK and keeps KCK’s largest tax payer alive and well. This is beneficial across the board.
Fairfax is one of three GM sites moving to a 24-hour production schedule as the company seeks to make up for output lost at other plants being closed or idled.
Local management and labor officials said this would be the first time Fairfax would run a third shift.
The influx of higher-paid auto industry employees at Fairfax, however, could generate 3,000 other new jobs in the area, an unusually large number, said Frank Lenk, director of research services at the Mid-America Regional Council.
Some of those jobs would be at local suppliers to Fairfax in Kansas City, Kan. But transferred workers also would buy houses and possibly furniture, dine out, hire lawn services, pay taxes and otherwise bolster local economic activity.
“A good chunk of those jobs are in things like retail, which doesn’t pay much, but another chunk is in construction and in information,” Lenk said. “It’s definitely a stimulus to the economy.”
Quoted areas from the Kansas City Star
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