GM given tax break by Michigan to keep employees at RenCen

In an effort to get General Motors Company to keep at least 2,000 employees at its Detroit Renaissance Center headquarters, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority gave the automaker a $50 million, 20 year tax break earlier this week. However, there will still be fewer employees at RenCen than the state had hoped.

Shortly after its bankruptcy filing, GM cut back the number of workers it promised to keep at the building from 2,500 to 2,000. Around 4,000 employees work at the location now.

“We have had intensive talks with GM and they made it clear they did not want to retain a minimum of 2,500 employees at the Detroit Renaissance Center,” said Greg Main, president of the MEGA board. “They are still in the midst of restructuring and not everything has been settled, but they did say they want to concentrate its (white-collar) employees in four locations.”

According to GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson, the automaker has no plans to leave RenCen as its headquarters.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Detroit News