BUFFALO—SolarCity is moving into its new factory here. Approximately 20 percent of the factory’s equipment has been delivered, and the factory plans to start making solar panels by next summer.
RAYMOND, OH—Honda will invest $53 million to build two new data centers here. The buildings will be home to Honda associates focused on product quality in the marketplace, increasing the company’s capability to study and respond to customer feedback more quickly and efficiently.
TORONTO—Canadian auto workers union Unifor announced a tentative agreement with Ford Motor Co. nearly 30 minutes past an 11:59 p.m. Monday strike deadline that includes wage gains for workers and hundreds of millions of dollars in investment.
OTTAWA, OH—Whirlpool Corp. began construction on a $3.3-million wind-turbine project at its freezer assembly plant here. The project will generate more than 30 percent of the plant’s power needs.
DETROIT—Automotive supplier Gestamp North America Inc. will invest $158 million to expand its assembly plants in Chelsea, MI, and Mason, MI, and invest $700,000 at its North American headquarters in Troy, MI. Its plans include a new chassis assembly line, paint line and press-hardening line in Chelsea and a new 150,000-square-foot facility to house a new laser-cutting cell in Mason. The plants will gain 235 new jobs, while the project in Troy will create 60 new jobs.
LANSING, MI—Michigan has won a nearly $2.5 million federal grant to increase access to apprenticeship programs in skilled trades fields. Part of the federal government’s ApprenticeshipUSA program, the grant will be used to boost the number of apprenticeships by 5 percent by May 2018, with about 1,000 new participants.
OSHAWA, ON—Up to 100 people will be hired early next year at General Motors’ assembly plant here, thanks to a boost in Chevy Equinox production and the new four-year tentative contract reached last month. MORE
NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan—In 2011, Foxconn announced a plan to replace 500,000 mainland Chinese workers with 1 million robots over the next three to five years. So far, the electronics manufacturing services provider has installed 40,000 robots across China. MORE
CENTREVILLE, AL—German automotive supplier MollerTech will invest $46.3 million to build a state-of-the-art assembly plant here. The factory, which will make interior parts for Mercedes-Benz SUVs, is expected to employ 222 people. MORE
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