With heavy thuds and the steady roar of machinery in the background, General Motors unveiled a new $200 million stamping facility Monday in Arlington.
As the crowd looked on, a 1.5-million pound press transformed flat sheets of metal into car doors and hoods. Two more presses are being built and will soon join the first.

"This is another page in the storied history of this plant," said Tim Lee, GM Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing. "This is a very good thing for GM and for Arlington."

Lauding the addition as an investment in American manufacturing and as a regional economic engine, Arlington city leaders, company officials and plant workers gathered to dedicate the new facility.

Attendees toured the plant, pausing to admire a gleaming-white 2014 Cadillac Escalade, the first-ever vehicle stamped in Arlington.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time," said Belinda Langley, shop chairwoman for United Auto Workers Local 276, which represents the plant. "I see evidence of resurgence in our country's manufacturing capability, and I see what happens when people work together."
The $200 million stamping plant is part of a $530 million investment GM has made in Arlington, which was selected to produce the company's next generation of large SUVs.

The three-story stamping facility will produce vehicle body panel parts, such as doors, hoods, fenders and side panels. Previously, those parts were stamped at plants in the Midwest and shipped to Arlington.
Having an on-site stamping facility will increase production efficiency and save GM roughly $40 million a year in transportation and logistics costs, Lee said.

To operate the three presses, the plant hired about 200 new workers, bringing the total number of workers in Arlington to more than 4,500. Mayor Robert Cluck said the strength of the workers has kept GM in Arlington since the plant first opened in 1954. The company could have built this facility anywhere in the world, he added.

"You know why it's still here? It's still here because of our workers," Cluck said. "We are still here and we are still growing."

Producing more than 1,200 vehicles a day, the Arlington plant is the lone source for Chevrolet Tahoes, Suburbans, GMC Yukons and Cadillac Escalades.
The Arlington plant produces 260,000 to 270,000 SUVs every year, but Lee said that number could grow to more than 300,000 in coming years.

Also Monday, the GM Foundation handed out $75,000 in grants to area charities, including the Arlington ISD Foundation, River Legacy Foundation and the United Way of Tarrant County.