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Office of Communications Gwen Campbell Media, Community & Education Relations Tel. 318.673.5062 / Fax: 318.673.5087 gwen.campbell@shreveportla.gov | ||
Mayor Glover today led a delegation of regional and state officials in a series of meetings in Washington, D.C. to discuss local economic development issues. The principal focus of the stop on his way back from China was to address concerns surrounding the announced shutdown of the Shreveport GM plant with Senator Mary Landrieu, GM Vice President of Global Manufacturing Tim Lee, and Ron Bloom, who serves as President Obama’s Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy. | Along with LED Secretary Stephen Moret, Caddo Parish Administrator Woody Wilson, North Louisiana Economic Partnership President Kurt Foreman and Assistant Director of Economic Development Matt Bailey, the Mayor and Senator convened the meeting on Capitol Hill to discuss the future prospects of the Shreveport automotive assembly plant. Among topics at the meeting were GM’s future plans and prospects for a renewed commitment in Shreveport, as well as the pending acquisition of the Hummer brand by the Chinese company Sichuan Tengzhong. | "Mayor Glover, Secretary Moret and I made clear that we are committing our full resources to ensure the continued investment in the skilled workers of Louisiana," said Sen. Landrieu. "Our meeting with Ron Bloom was a positive step toward our goal of seeing the Shreveport community remain a competitive and attractive investment center. We also impressed upon GM that they must move forward with a more fair and transparent corporate restructuring process. There has been widespread concern among Louisiana's GM dealers about the way in which GM made the decision to close certain dealerships. I urged GM not to burden the remaining dealers with unreasonable financial requirements at a time when the economic climate for small businesses is already quite difficult." | “Today, we were able to open the lines of communication between the Administration, our senior Senator, and GM executives on the challenging situation we face with our local plant,” Mayor Glover said. “I delivered the message that we are ready to work with all parties to confront this challenge head-on and identify solutions well before the scheduled shut-down of the facility. I also asked Mr. Bloom and Senator Landrieu to consider reaching out to the Chinese government to urge immediate approval of the Hummer deal which is an important step to ensuring the long-term viability of our local plant and opportunity for our well-trained workforce. I thank Senator Landrieu for helping to facilitate this very important meeting and for her leadership and responsiveness to the economic concerns of Northwest Louisiana.” | Following the mid-day meetings on Capitol Hill, Mayor Glover traveled to the White House to meet with David P. Agnew, Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the President. The focal point of the discussion concerned Shreveport and the State’s “TIGER Grant” application for final funding of I-49 North, with added discussion of the President’s Automotive Task Force and local manufacturing concerns. The Mayor also expressed appreciation for the President’s support of the Summer Youth Employment Program which employed almost 800 Shreveport area youth. Also present in the meeting were Matt Bailey, Woody Wilson, and Anand Chhabra, a Shreveport native and 2002 graduate of Caddo Magnet High School who currently serves as a Staff Assistant at the White House. |
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