GM Lordstown provides $100K to local service organizations

RELATED: GM expected to have stellar September

By KALEA HALL

khall@vindy.com

LORDSTOWN

To the new general manager of the General Motors Lordstown plant, support from the local community is vital.

Steve Notar Donato, the Lordstown complex plant manager, said that success doesn’t happen within a vacuum; it takes the support of others.

The General Motors Foundation shared in that support and recognized it on Friday with the announcement of seven local nonprofits as recipients of a variety of monetary grants totaling $100,000.

“Their support allows [our] programs and services valued by the community [to remain],” said Ginny Pasha, president and CEO of the United Way of Trumbull County.

Together, the United Ways of Mahoning and Trumbull counties will split $70,000 they received from the GM Foundation.

For the Trumbull County United Way, the GM Local 1714, Local 1112 and GM management are the largest donors.

Other recipients of the grants include the American Cancer Society, Northeast Ohio region; Boys and Girls Club of Youngstown; Inspiring Minds of Warren; March of Dimes Northern Ohio Chapter; Miss Liberty House of Ravenna; and the Warren Family Mission.

Since 1976, the GM Foundation has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to American charities, educational organizations and disaster-relief efforts worldwide.

“We are so lucky that

Lordstown is here producing a world-class car,” Pasha said.

The world-class car is GM’s best-selling car, the Chevrolet Cruze. More than one million Cruzes have been produced in the past four years at the Lordstown plant.

When Greg Greenwood of Greenwood Chevrolet and the president of the Chevy All-Stars thinks about the millionth Cruze his jaw drops. “That’s just a fantastic job,” he said.

The Cruze hit another milestone this week when the 2015 Cruze, which comes with a facelift, was shipped out for commerce Friday morning.

“We are very proud of the current car we produce,” Notar Donato said.

Notar Donato received a warm welcome to Lordstown when his position became effective Aug. 1.

“They should be real proud of this site,” he said.

Just within Northeast Ohio, the network of dealers has sold more than 30,000 Cruzes.

The new Cruze LTZ, which has the highest trim level and comes with leather seats, the Cruze LT and Cruze LT sport model all come with a facelift and with access to 4G LTE with available Wi-Fi.

“I call it a family facelift because it looks like it is in the Chevy family,” Greenwood said.

Friday was also a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the ground-breaking at the GM Lordstown complex ­— the company’s largest plant in the U.S. and most productive in North America.

Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill reflected on the impact the plant has had on the local community and the entire Mahoning Valley at Friday’s event.

“Our bread and butter is General Motors,” he said. “We have done whatever we can to give whatever assistance they need.”