WENTZVILLE, Mo. — Missouri is in the running for a massive investment from General Motors. Gov. Mike Parson announced Wednesday that GM is looking at expanding the plant in Wentzville.
If GM commits to at least a $500 million expansion, the state is looking at offering $50 million in incentives. The $50 million would be spread out over 10 years.
“There's never been a billion-dollar investment in our state from the private sector before,” said Parson.
Parson said the expansion would secure the current jobs at the Wentzville location and also create new construction jobs.
“When you see that other plants have closed across the US and 14,000 jobs have been lost, if GM would take this somewhere else, you would imagine the effect it would have on our state and these communities,” Parson said.
State legislators would have to approve the incentive deals. Parson said he is hoping they will reach an agreement before the end of the legislative session, which is the end of next week.
Business owners around Wentzville said they are excited about potential expansion.
“I've been hearing about it a lot. A lot of our regulars are talking about it," said Danielle Moors, one of the owners of Old Town Smokehouse in Wentzville. “We get a lot of people in from GM. We're happy to have them expanding.”
Parson said GM could make a decision by the end of May.