Wisconsin allocates $5.4 million to train GM plant employees

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle announced that the state will provide General Motors' assembly plant in Janesville $5.4 million to help offset training costs associated with the launch of a new line of sport utility vehicles. The 3,800 employees at the Janesville plant are gearing up for a January launch of a new line of Chevrolet Suburbans and Tahoes and GMC Yukon XLs and Yukons. GM is investing $175 million to retool the plant, one of the automaker's oldest, for the new product, which is expected to run through 2012. Doyle said the state's incentive package includes about $4 million in grants from the state departments of commerce, workforce development and administration. The other $1 million will come from the Wisconsin Technical College System for employee training. "For more than 80 years, GM's Janesville plant has been producing quality vehicles and providing good jobs for the people of Janesville, Rock County and the state of Wisconsin," Doyle said in a news release. "I appreciate the company's strong presence in Wisconsin and its willingness to make lasting investments in the plant that increase its competitiveness and productivity. I am committed to building on the state's long-term partnership with GM."