Brown, Portman to meet with GM's Barra Wednesday

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman will meet Wednesday with General Motors CEO Mary Barra.

The idled plant in Lordstown will be discussed at the morning meeting in Washington, D.C., according to a Brown spokesman.

Brown, a Cleveland Democrat, and Portman, a Cincinnati-area Republican, have lobbied GM to place a new product at the Lordstown Assembly Complex.

GM ended production of the Chevrolet Cruze at the 53-year-old plant in March, eliminating about 1,600 jobs left at a location that once employed more than 10,000.

It was disclosed in May that GM was in discussions with Workhorse Group Inc. and an affiliated, newly formed entity to sell the Lordstown facility for the production of electric vehicles there. Workhorse, based in the Cincinnati area, specializes in electric delivery trucks.