A majority of General Motors employees in Pontiac will soon call Warren home.
The automotive company announced they will transfer thousands of employees to the Warren facility to help accelerate the development of their zero emissions vehicles.
Pontiac Mayor Deirdre Waterman says she understands why General Motors is transferring employees to Warren, but says this move shouldn’t have a major impact on the Pontiac economy.
"We have a vibrant downtown and we’re bringing in more jobs and businesses to the city," Waterman said.
The mayor says she found out Thursday morning about GM’s plan to move some employees to another facility.
"Of course this has a tremendous impact in the sense that General Motors has always been a corporate partner here in the city of Pontiac," Waterman said.
On Thursday, General Motors announced it will transfer 75 percent of their 4,000 employees from their Pontiac campus to their global technical center in Warren.
"I hope they don’t move," said long time Pontiac resident Aaron Wright. "It really benefits the city very well."
The announcement of jobs moving from Pontiac to Warren has some folks concerned about the future of the city.
"GM is still a big part of our economy," Wright said referring to how GM employees impact local restaurants. "In this location here, this is a great place to eat and they all come over here to eat. This is just all around awesome, so it would be sad it they left."
Mayor Waterman says the economy is on the up and up, and the city will be OK.
"We’ll be happy that General Motors still has a foundation in the city of Pontiac, but we have many other industries, many other jobs, many opportunities that are growing almost daily," she said.
The move will start before the end of the year.
