General Motors announced Tuesday morningthat the Arlington assembly plant will be the home to a new sheet metal stamping facility.

Less than a year after launching a $331 million expansion to build the next generation of full-size sport utility vehicles, GM is pumping another $200 million into the Arlington assembly plant.

The new 250,000- to 300,000-square-foot sheet metal stamping facility will produce exterior parts such as doors, hoods, fenders, trunk lids, and other inner body pieces manufactured for GM vehicles. Currently, these panels are being stamped at several other plants across the country, mostly in the Midwest, and shipped to Arlington. Having an on-site stamping facility would increase production efficiencies and save GM money in shipping expenses.

For Arlington, the multimillion-dollar project that includes $68 million in buildings and $132 million in machinery and equipment is expected to add 180 jobs to a 2,661employee workforce that is already the city's largest private employer. That includes the 110 jobs created last year as part of the previous expansion and re-tooling of the plant, which is currently underway.

A new 129,250-square-foot body shop on the plant's west side is part of that re-tooling which will house 51 bays and six new truck docks. New machinery and special tools and equipment also are being added at the plant.

GM's investment and installation of stamping presses, dies, and related stamping equipment will also further strengthen the Arlington plant's long-term sustainability, while providing an economic boost. The plant is a significant contributor to the City and state economies to the tune of over $400 million in annual expenditures.

So far the Arlington plant, which cranks out approximately 1,140 vehicles a day and made 280,000 of them last year, is the only one in the U.S. that produces GM's large SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, Cadillac Escalade, Suburban, and GMC Yukon XL. An Arlington staple since 1954, the plant passed a milestone last year by building its 9-millionth vehicle.

The Arlington City Council passed an ordinance last April establishing the GM site as a reinvestment zone and approved an incentive package to encourage General Motors to make further investments at the Arlington plant.

To help lure the stamping facility, the Arlington City Council on Jan. 14 voted 8-0 to approve a 90-percent tax abatement on the new building and equipment, which is expected to save the company more than $1 million annually in city taxes for 10 years. The City also agreed to waive building permit fees and other developer fees.

By Kenneth Perkins