GM Investments Support People, Products and Peregrines

There’s a lot of activity happening at our Warren Technical Center. Engineers are translating breakthrough technologies into vehicles people love. Executives and entry-level employees alike are collaborating on ways to earn customers for life. And work is underway on extensive upgrades to make the Tech Center a more advanced, efficient and collaborative workplace.

Designed by famed architect Eero Saarinen, the GM Technical Center was designated a National Historic Landmark in November. It’s also one of our 40 facilities with an active wildlife habitat program certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council.

Yesterday we announced we’re investing $1 billion to support future business growth through a multi-year project that includes new construction, renovations and expansions of facilities on the campus.

Some of the renovations have already begun. A few weeks ago construction crews began upgrading the office building across the street from the main campus we acquired last September, which will serve as a temporary home to many of our Tech Center employees during construction.

There was only one problem: The building already had homeowners, General Brock and Isabella, the peregrine falcons that have roosted atop the facility for the past three years. And staff noticed Isabella was sitting tight on her nest, suggesting she was incubating eggs. Needless to say, the sounds of jackhammers and nail guns are not comforting to an expecting mother.

Peregrine falcons are an endangered species in Michigan, so concerned members of GM’s wildlife team quickly organized a meeting with biologists from the Department of Natural Resources and facility staff overseeing construction.

Together they discussed possible solutions to how needed renovations could move forward without disturbing the nest – controlling noise from construction during key periods of the falcons’ reproduction cycle, from egg laying, fledging, to independence for the potential young. 

And guess what? Yesterday we discovered General Brock and Isabella are now the proud parents of three healthy chicks!

At GM, we go out of our way to protect wildlife, particularly those most in need of protection. These cute and fuzzy success stories go to show that companies willing to commit, collaborate and compromise with all stakeholders can invest in their future while protecting the future of endangered species.