Baltimore County?s economy is strong, with low unemployment, innovative businesses and a talented and well-educated worker pool.
That was the message U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez delivered to local leaders and workers gathered at the General Motors Allison Powertrain Transmission Plant in White Marsh on Friday.
And it?s innovative partnership with competitors and local schools that helped GM add new automotive technology and create more jobs at the plant, Gutierrez said.
The General Motors plant will soon begin building a transmission for hybrid gasoline/electric vehicles and hybrid diesel/electric vehicles for model 2008 vehicles. GM and German automakers DaimlerChrysler and BMW are sharing development and production costs.
The new transmission required a $118 million upgrade to the plant and will create 87 new jobs.
Gutierrez praised efforts of Baltimore?s 25 colleges and universities as well as the network of community colleges that have worked with businesses to develop curriculums geared to the needs of employers.
“As the region?s economy moves from traditional manufacturing models to advanced, productivity-driven models, this training network is keeping our workforce competitive,” Gutierrez said.
Baltimore County jobless rate healthier than nation
Gutierrez said, at 3.5 percent unemployment in May, Baltimore County has a better jobless rate than the 4.6 percent nationwide unemployment rate announced by the U.S. Department of Labor on Friday.
The U.S. unemployment rate edged up slightly in May from April.
Members ofthe Baltimore Chamber of Commerce joined Gutierrez for the plant tour.
The investment and job expansion at the Allison plant is bright spot for GM and Baltimore. When GM announced that it was closing its East Baltimore van assembly plant last year, the automaker was swamped with requests by developers to purchase the site. GM sold the 184-acre-site to Duke Realty in January.
In February, Duke Realty, state and city officials announced a more than $150 million industrial development for the site, which will include several warehouses for Baltimore Port companies and an office complex for manufacturing and research development.
Joan Hatfield, CEO of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce, said such partnerships and re-development of former manufacturing sites prove Baltimore County has a strong economic base.
