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Talk of the Town

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BREAKING 10:15pm 8-17-08 Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover "...Very Encouraged" by GM Talks
Monday, Aug 18, 2008 7:20am

DETROIT, MI (By: Tom Pace, Executive Editor, Talk of the Town) BREAKING: ECONOMIC NEWS 10:15pm 8-17-08 “It went very well, very positive, very forward thinking, we’re very encouraged,” said Shreveport Mayor Cedric B. Glover after meeting with General Motors President Troy Clarke and GM VP of Manufacturing Tim Lee Friday, August 15, 2008 at GM headquarters to discuss the future of the Shreveport assembly plant.

Mayor Glover, Governor Bobby Jindal, Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret, Shreveport City Councilman Ron Webb and Caddo Parish Administrator Woody Wilson traveled to Detroit hoping to convince General Motors to continue its operations at its Shreveport plant, despite decreasing sales of the mid-size pickup trucks and Hummer 3 vehicles that are manufactured there.

“We are very aggressive in offering tax incentives, rapid response funds and mega fund dollars,” said Governor Jindal. “They reaffirmed their commitment to the production that’s taking place at the plant and they’re going to continue to have at least one production cycle, that’s 800 jobs. They’re going to continue with the H3-T launch in September which is certainly good news.”

Mayor Glover is asking GM to strongly consider an innovative partnership between General Motors, local and state government and the local community in which at least a portion of the Shreveport GM facility would be utilized for the manufacture of alternative fuel vehicles and the creation of a research and development center for alternative fuel technologies and innovative energy strategies.

“We believe that a vision is obviously at work and we look forward to sitting down again in the not too distant future to talk further, “says Mayor Glover.

“We’re very optimistic that the future is going to look good for Shreveport.” says District E City Councilman Ron Webb. “They made no promises, but there will be future meetings.”

“We will do whatever we can to keep GM,” says Jindal.