I agree that Lansing is positioned to do very well in the next decade. The area seems to already be a draw from both cities that have little growth or opportunity, and from places that have become just too expensive to live comfortably. I often ask people I come in contact with if they are from Lansing, and only a handful have answered yes. So it seems to be true that a lot of people have moved here mostly from other mid-western places. Outside of the mid-west, our beautiful affordable smart hard working city is almost unheard of. That is something I think we could easily change. GM will be challenged to determine where the automobile is going in our lives. There is a big shift to electric and perhaps self-driving vehicles, they will have to keep up with these trends, if they don't it could be trouble for Lansing.
I think GM isn't as big of a deal as it used to be in Lansing. I think at this point it's larger in people's heads than in reality.
Don't get me wrong. GM is still one of the top employers in the region, and if the company up and left it would leave a huge hole south of downtown. But Lansing has an insurance company that hires as much as GM now. MSU has twice the employees, the state government triple.
GM leaving or greatly shedding workforce would probably bring growth in Lansing back to zero for awhile. The region would get stuck in a holding pattern. But the economy would eventually bounce back, I think.
I do worry for Michigan's auto industry. Between Tesla and all the self-driving tech coming out of California, Michigan is no longer leading innovation in the auto industry. I have been presently surprised by GM's investment in Lyft, though. I doubted that move at first, but this year Lyft has surged to take almost a third of the ridesharing market. Uber used to control over 90% of the market. So maybe GM has gotten on the ball more there.
GM is much bigger than you think in Lansing when you factor in all the suppliers, they're scattered everywhere around the area, many with hundreds of employees themselves. I think it's fairly safe to say that of the four major economic legs of the Lansing area MSU has the most impact, but after that GM and its suppliers have as good a case as any for second place.
Don't worry about Tesla too much, despite the hype they're a very small manufacturer right now, mass producing cars is extremely complicated and they're not going to be able to grow as quickly as they'd like. For some perspective, it was reported in September that Tesla had produced it's 250,000th vehicle since it's founding in 2008, in 2015 when the Delta Township plant produced three models they made 267,000 vehicles, GM made almost 10 million vehicles that year. According to many GM also has one of the best autonomous systems out of anyone in the new Cadillacs and pretty much all manufacturers are fielding or developing something comparable. I wouldn't worry about Michigan's auto industry too much unless there's something to worry about with the global auto industry.
What GM and its suppliers offers is a livable wage for people without a formal education or skilled trades, I think it's an important component of the job mix here in the region. I understand that the workers have to seek training and education at some point- but it would really hurt the working class economy if this disappeared in the near term.
I do not agree that most GM workers are poorly educated and lack skills. These folks have to do much of their work on computers and with robotic machines. Their work requires intelligence and skill. They build very intricately sophisticated vehicles.
I guess we would survive without GM, just from a psychological standpoint, I think it would be depressing to see GM leave Lansing. I was not here when they tore down the Olds plant, but that must have been very depressing to witness. That being said I do believe that GM is on top of the new technology and will be in Lansing for many years to come. I was saying "what if" GM does not keep up. I think they will. It would be good if in ten years there were lots of different types of businesses offering employment to workers at all levels.
@gbdinlansing - My comments weren't meant to be disparaging, but I think it's just a matter of fact. I have friends that work at GM. They don't have degrees or skilled trades training. They're still talented, smart, and skilled in what they do- and they do well at GM. They'd also likely do well in other manufacturing, but if GM were to disappear- would those other jobs be around? That's the kicker.
That said- of course there are engineers and skilled trademan and women at GM. I just don't think they make up "most" of the crew here in town.
@hood: GM has cut its Greater Lansing labor force in half this century. The only big-time supplier here is Demmer, with under 1,000 employees. There are quite a few smaller suppliers, too, but how many employees are we talking about total? Another thousand? The state government is a bigger deal, with triple the employees of GM, plus the attendant nonprofits and organizations it attracts.
GM, from the numbers, is in a battle with the insurance industry for the third pillar in Lansing's economy, IMO. It's psychologically huge here but has been consolidating in Detroit this entire century. The auto industry's big deal is that it can provide great jobs without a college education. I think that's why it's obsessed over to such a degree. But the numbers don't back it up as being a top dog.
I know as a millennial that GM/the Big 3 are not big on our radars. When they do hire our parents and aunts and uncles will freak out and repost the job ads on our Facebooks, but when you really look at the offer it's usually not that great. I can get the same pay and benefits at almost any warehouse. The '90s really were the last of the glory days. Not that I wouldn't work for GM at the plant given the right circumstances, but I don't see it as a golden ticket anymore.
@The_Lansing_Magnate I wouldn't consider Demmer a GM supplier, they do list automotive as an industry they're involved in but they primarily do defense and aerospace work. There are tons of suppliers in the area, here's a (probably incomplete) list of the major GM suppliers:
-Magna Powertrain
-Magna Dexys
-Woodbridge
-Bridgwater Interiors
-Alliance Interiors
-Yazaki
-3 Dakkota Plants (Keller Rd, Holloway Dr, Grove Rd)
-Android Industries
-Ryder Logistics
-Yanfeng
I'd bet that most of those places have close to or over 200 employees, some quite a few more. I wouldn't argue that the bulk of these are great jobs but even the line jobs probably don't pay much worse than the entry level state or insurance industry jobs.
There's also a number of non GM auto suppliers and non auto related manufacturers. One of the more interesting sounding companies I came across was Eckhart, a company that designs automated production lines, assembles them in house to test and then disassembles, ships and installs them on site. Probably some of the more advanced manufacturing in the area goes on at Pratt and Whitney, which has a good sized complex on the south side manufacturing jet engine parts.
@MichMatters Exactly, the auto industry and manufacturing in general is a huge asset. Manufacturing brings in tons of outside money and there are plenty of engineering, management, machinist and highly skilled maintenance jobs to go with the assembly line jobs.
It would be great if we had another industry to replace GM in our community but I am pretty sure that while maybe not growing, they will be here for a long time to come. What I would like to see is the land that GM has left, and the huge surface lots that are no longer used redeveloped. Whole new neighborhoods could fit into those areas. I think a mix of smaller industrial sites with commercial and residential development [like most of Lansing] would be successful.
Comments
I agree that Lansing is positioned to do very well in the next decade. The area seems to already be a draw from both cities that have little growth or opportunity, and from places that have become just too expensive to live comfortably. I often ask people I come in contact with if they are from Lansing, and only a handful have answered yes. So it seems to be true that a lot of people have moved here mostly from other mid-western places. Outside of the mid-west, our beautiful affordable smart hard working city is almost unheard of. That is something I think we could easily change. GM will be challenged to determine where the automobile is going in our lives. There is a big shift to electric and perhaps self-driving vehicles, they will have to keep up with these trends, if they don't it could be trouble for Lansing.
I think GM isn't as big of a deal as it used to be in Lansing. I think at this point it's larger in people's heads than in reality.
Don't get me wrong. GM is still one of the top employers in the region, and if the company up and left it would leave a huge hole south of downtown. But Lansing has an insurance company that hires as much as GM now. MSU has twice the employees, the state government triple.
GM leaving or greatly shedding workforce would probably bring growth in Lansing back to zero for awhile. The region would get stuck in a holding pattern. But the economy would eventually bounce back, I think.
I do worry for Michigan's auto industry. Between Tesla and all the self-driving tech coming out of California, Michigan is no longer leading innovation in the auto industry. I have been presently surprised by GM's investment in Lyft, though. I doubted that move at first, but this year Lyft has surged to take almost a third of the ridesharing market. Uber used to control over 90% of the market. So maybe GM has gotten on the ball more there.
GM is much bigger than you think in Lansing when you factor in all the suppliers, they're scattered everywhere around the area, many with hundreds of employees themselves. I think it's fairly safe to say that of the four major economic legs of the Lansing area MSU has the most impact, but after that GM and its suppliers have as good a case as any for second place.
Don't worry about Tesla too much, despite the hype they're a very small manufacturer right now, mass producing cars is extremely complicated and they're not going to be able to grow as quickly as they'd like. For some perspective, it was reported in September that Tesla had produced it's 250,000th vehicle since it's founding in 2008, in 2015 when the Delta Township plant produced three models they made 267,000 vehicles, GM made almost 10 million vehicles that year. According to many GM also has one of the best autonomous systems out of anyone in the new Cadillacs and pretty much all manufacturers are fielding or developing something comparable. I wouldn't worry about Michigan's auto industry too much unless there's something to worry about with the global auto industry.
What GM and its suppliers offers is a livable wage for people without a formal education or skilled trades, I think it's an important component of the job mix here in the region. I understand that the workers have to seek training and education at some point- but it would really hurt the working class economy if this disappeared in the near term.
I do not agree that most GM workers are poorly educated and lack skills. These folks have to do much of their work on computers and with robotic machines. Their work requires intelligence and skill. They build very intricately sophisticated vehicles.
I guess we would survive without GM, just from a psychological standpoint, I think it would be depressing to see GM leave Lansing. I was not here when they tore down the Olds plant, but that must have been very depressing to witness. That being said I do believe that GM is on top of the new technology and will be in Lansing for many years to come. I was saying "what if" GM does not keep up. I think they will. It would be good if in ten years there were lots of different types of businesses offering employment to workers at all levels.
@gbdinlansing - My comments weren't meant to be disparaging, but I think it's just a matter of fact. I have friends that work at GM. They don't have degrees or skilled trades training. They're still talented, smart, and skilled in what they do- and they do well at GM. They'd also likely do well in other manufacturing, but if GM were to disappear- would those other jobs be around? That's the kicker.
That said- of course there are engineers and skilled trademan and women at GM. I just don't think they make up "most" of the crew here in town.
@hood: GM has cut its Greater Lansing labor force in half this century. The only big-time supplier here is Demmer, with under 1,000 employees. There are quite a few smaller suppliers, too, but how many employees are we talking about total? Another thousand? The state government is a bigger deal, with triple the employees of GM, plus the attendant nonprofits and organizations it attracts.
GM, from the numbers, is in a battle with the insurance industry for the third pillar in Lansing's economy, IMO. It's psychologically huge here but has been consolidating in Detroit this entire century. The auto industry's big deal is that it can provide great jobs without a college education. I think that's why it's obsessed over to such a degree. But the numbers don't back it up as being a top dog.
I know as a millennial that GM/the Big 3 are not big on our radars. When they do hire our parents and aunts and uncles will freak out and repost the job ads on our Facebooks, but when you really look at the offer it's usually not that great. I can get the same pay and benefits at almost any warehouse. The '90s really were the last of the glory days. Not that I wouldn't work for GM at the plant given the right circumstances, but I don't see it as a golden ticket anymore.
@The_Lansing_Magnate I wouldn't consider Demmer a GM supplier, they do list automotive as an industry they're involved in but they primarily do defense and aerospace work. There are tons of suppliers in the area, here's a (probably incomplete) list of the major GM suppliers:
-Magna Powertrain
-Magna Dexys
-Woodbridge
-Bridgwater Interiors
-Alliance Interiors
-Yazaki
-3 Dakkota Plants (Keller Rd, Holloway Dr, Grove Rd)
-Android Industries
-Ryder Logistics
-Yanfeng
I'd bet that most of those places have close to or over 200 employees, some quite a few more. I wouldn't argue that the bulk of these are great jobs but even the line jobs probably don't pay much worse than the entry level state or insurance industry jobs.
There's also a number of non GM auto suppliers and non auto related manufacturers. One of the more interesting sounding companies I came across was Eckhart, a company that designs automated production lines, assembles them in house to test and then disassembles, ships and installs them on site. Probably some of the more advanced manufacturing in the area goes on at Pratt and Whitney, which has a good sized complex on the south side manufacturing jet engine parts.
@MichMatters Exactly, the auto industry and manufacturing in general is a huge asset. Manufacturing brings in tons of outside money and there are plenty of engineering, management, machinist and highly skilled maintenance jobs to go with the assembly line jobs.
It would be great if we had another industry to replace GM in our community but I am pretty sure that while maybe not growing, they will be here for a long time to come. What I would like to see is the land that GM has left, and the huge surface lots that are no longer used redeveloped. Whole new neighborhoods could fit into those areas. I think a mix of smaller industrial sites with commercial and residential development [like most of Lansing] would be successful.