View source for Bowling Green Assembly Plant

{{Short description|General Motors automobile factory in Bowling Green, Kentucky}}
{{Infobox factory
| name                 = Bowling Green Assembly 
| image                = 
| image_size           = 
| alt                  = 
| caption              = 
| location_map         = 
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| coordinates          = {{Coord}}
| built                =  
| operated             = 1981–present
| location             = [[Bowling Green, Kentucky]]
| industry             = [[automotive industry|Automotive]]
| products             = [[car|Automobiles]]
| employees            = 1,422 (2022) <ref name=offic>[https://www.gm.com/company/facilities/bowling-green Bowling Green] on GM.com</ref>
| architect            = 
| style                = 
| buildings            = 
| area                 = {{convert|212|acre|km2}} <ref name=offic/>
| volume               = {{convert|1,700,000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}
| address              = 600 Corvette Drive
| owner                = [[General Motors]]
| website              = {{url|https://www.gm.com/company/facilities/bowling-green|gm.com/bowling-green}}
}}
'''Bowling Green Assembly''' is an [[Automotive industry|automotive]] [[Factory|assembly plant]] in [[Bowling Green, Kentucky]], United States, owned and operated by [[General Motors Corporation|General Motors]]. The specialized plant has assembled the [[Chevrolet Corvette]] sports car since its opening in 1981. As of 2022, GM employed approximately 1,100 people at the plant,<ref name="2022CAFR" /> and by 2023, the plant had produced approximately 1.1 million Corvettes.<ref>Jim Smart, [https://www.motortrend.com/features/1907-corvette-assembly-plant-bowling-green/ Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green], ''Motortrend'' (July 25, 2019).</ref><ref>Jake Foster, [https://www.wkyufm.org/news/2023-08-25/national-corvette-museum-celebrates-29th-anniversary-highlighting-corvette-legacy National Corvette Museum Celebrates 29th Anniversary, highlighting Corvette legacy], WKU Public Radio (August 25, 2023).</ref> 

== History ==
The first 300 Corvettes were hand built at a plant in Flint, Michigan in 1953. Production was moved the next year to a facility in St. Louis, Missouri and then finally ended up in 1981 at the Bowling Green Assembly Plant. [[General Motors]] opened the Bowling Green plant for production on June 1 that year, with most of the 900 Corvette workers from St. Louis transferring to the new plant. What was once an abandoned Chrysler industrial air-conditioning unit factory is now a 1.7 million square foot facility that employs almost one thousand people. The factory was built by the Chrysler Airtemp Division as the area provided the potential for skilled workers due to the high quality vocational training.  In 1968, when plans for the factory were announced, Charles B. Gorey Jr., the vice president of the Chrysler Airtemp Division, announced that "production will require workers skilled in machine trades and most employees will be men."<ref name="Gentry">{{cite news |last1=Margaret |first1=Gentry |title=Chrysler Airtemp Division to Locate Plant in City |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/661494160/ |agency=Park City Daily News |date=12 Jul 1968}}</ref> After the factory was acquired from Chrysler, General Motors spent an estimated $130 million to refurbish the factory and install its own assembly line.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hershberg |first1=Ben Z. |title=Beyond the 'Heaven" of New Corvette Plant, GM Sees Some Hurdles |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/110367538/?terms=corvette%2Bplant |agency=Courier-Journal |date=11 Aug 1981}}</ref>  Guided tours of the plant are available throughout the year on weekdays, three times a day.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bowling Green| url=https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/company_info/facilities/assembly/bowlinggreen.html|publisher=GM News|accessdate=28 February 2014}}</ref>

On December 11, 2021, an [[Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021|EF3 tornado]] damaged the roof and an entrance to the plant, briefly halting production. No employees were injured.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Jamie L. LaReau|url=https://www.freep.com/story/money/business/2021/12/13/gm-factory-zero-tornado-corvette-bowling-green/6499520001/|title=GM's Factory ZERO helps fix Corvette plant after tornado rips through|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=December 14, 2021}}</ref>

==Workers==
As of 2022, GM employed approximately 1,100 people in Bowling Green.<ref name=2022CAFR>{{cite report|url=https://www.bgky.org/files/29RB8pqY.pdf|chapter=Schedule 21: City of Bowling Green, Kentucky Principal Employers, Current Year and Nine Years Ago|title=Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2022|publisher=City of Bowling Green Department of Finance|access-date=February 18, 2023}}</ref> The plant's workers are [[Labor unions in the United States|unionized]], belonging to the [[United Auto Workers]] Local 2164.<ref>Jake Moore, [https://www.bgdailynews.com/news/uaw-local-2164-rallies-in-solidarity-with-fellow-auto-workers/article_65547b5e-d9de-5838-a9ba-8ffe3ef9254e.html UAW Local 2164 rallies in solidarity with fellow auto workers], ''Bowling Green Daily News'' (October 6, 2023).</ref><ref>Tucker Covey, [https://www.wnky.com/local-uaw-chapter-president-discusses-historic-strike/ Local UAW chapter president discusses historic strike], WNKY (September 15, 2023).</ref>

==Investments==
Many large investments have been made to keep the plant as updated and cutting edge as possible. As the Corvette improves throughout the years, the technology to create it has to be revamped as well. 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| 2017 || $500 million for the retooling of the general assembly line, paint booths, and robotic inventory system
|-
| 2014/2013 || $3.5 million for the relocation of the Performance Build Center to Bowling Green
|-
| 2013/2012 || $131 million for the plant remodel to make way for the C7 changeover, with $52 million for the Body Shop
|-
| 2007 || $4.5 million for conveyor addition and remodel
|-
| 2005 || $12 million for ELPO paint system
|-
| 2005 || $5 million in ANDON global error proofing 
|-
| 2005/2004 || $19 million for C6 model changeover
|-
| 2005/2004 || $3 million for paint sludge system/ air balancing
|-
| 1996 || When production of the C4 Corvette ended in 1996, the plant was gutted and rebuilt to prepare for the more modern C5 Corvette.
|}

===Performance Build Center===
The performance build center allows engine aficionados to build their own specialty engines. With the relocation of the performance build center from Michigan to Bowling Green, it allows customers to be able to build and watch the production of their car now all in one location. The opening of this center in Bowling Green is adding 20 new or relocated jobs to the community as well.

The center is the source of all the hand assembled dry sump engines. These would be the 6.2L LS3 V8 engine of the grand sport coupe (manual transmission only), the 7.0L LS7 V8 Z06 engine, and the 6.2L supercharged LS9 engine for the ZR1.<ref>{{cite web|title=GM Relocating Performance Build Center to Bowling Green|url=http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2013/Jan/0130_bowlinggreen.html|publisher=GM News|accessdate=28 February 2014}}</ref>

===Body shop===
The new body shop now allows the aluminum frame to be produced in-house. The new shop also was designed to have the advancements to make the most complex frame design in Corvette's history.  This new frame is 99 pounds lighter and 40% stiffer than the C6 frame.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mceachern|first=Sam|title=General Motors Re-Opens Overhauled Bowling Green Assembly Plant To The Public  |url=http://gmauthority.com/blog/2013/10/general-motors-re-opens-overhauled-bowling-green-assembly-plant-to-the-public/|publisher=GM Authority|accessdate=28 February 2014}}</ref> With the chassis being so strong, the C7 convertible will not need any additional structural reinforcements to the frame which is very rare.

==Community involvement==
Features a wildlife habitat that is spread across 75 acres. The space also features a 42,000 pounds of ground-up ergonomic mats recycled from the plant for a picnic area. The land also features sunflowers that were planted by students and blue bird boxes that were made and installed by a local Boy Scout troop. The plant employs an environmental team that chooses appropriate plant species for the grounds.<ref>{{cite web|title=Experience Corvette As Never Before|url=http://www.chevrolet.com/bowling-green-assembly-plant.html|publisher=Chevrolet|accessdate=28 February 2014}}</ref>

==Vehicles produced==
As of September, 2022:<ref name=offic/>
* [[Chevrolet Corvette (C8)|Chevrolet Corvette Stingray]]
* [[Chevrolet Corvette (C8)#Z06|Chevrolet Corvette Z06]]

==See also==
* [[National Corvette Museum]] — ''also in Bowling Green.''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official website}}

{{coord|37|0|41.02|N|86|21|59.81|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{General Motors factories}}
{{Bowling Green, Kentucky}}

[[Category:Chevrolet Corvette]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Bowling Green, Kentucky]]
[[Category:General Motors factories]]
[[Category:Motor vehicle assembly plants in Kentucky]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Bowling Green, Kentucky]]
[[Category:1981 establishments in Kentucky]]