General Motors, Army sign agreement for test complex at YPG

General Motors and the U.S. Army have signed an agreement to create a joint-use, hot-weather vehicle test complex at Yuma Proving Ground. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made the announcement in a news release Wednesday.

The agreement under the Army's Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) program provides for total joint use of the facility by the government and private industry.

It is a winning agreement for the automaker, the military and the community, said Graham Stullenbarger, chief of the YPG Natural Environments Test Office.

GM will have the land it needs to develop a new test facility to replace the one it sold in Mesa. YPG will gain a badly needed new facility to test military equipment for use in the Middle East. There will be "an unbelievable local economic impact," Stullenbarger said.

Under the agreement, GM will develop the $100 million test complex within 2,400 acres at YPG, north of the Martinez Lake Road. There, the automaker will be able to perform tests on vehicles it produces, with the added security of YPG's restricted air space. The complex will include offices and high-tech garages to make onsite repairs.

In addition to its own test facility, GM will develop two high-speed test tracks for the Army's use: a dual-lane paved track and a gravel track. Both will be built to carry heavy military wheeled and tracked vehicles that can weigh up to a quarter-million pounds, Stullenbarger said.

"It will be a very complex facility to meet our requirements," Stullenbarger said. "We'll get tens of millions of dollars' worth of development and maintenance at no cost. It's like Christmas for the Army."

YPG is the Department of Defense's lead facility for testing vehicles in hot weather, he said. But the current test facility was built in the 1950s for speeds below 40 mph and no longer meets the military's needs.

"We needed to be able to test all vehicles faster," said Stullenbarger. "This has become more critical with the roadside bombs used in Iraq. Speed is a great defense against ambush."

It became apparent during Desert Storm in the early 1990s that new test capabilities were needed, Stullenbarger said. At the same time, growth has been encroaching on the private test tracks of several automotive manufacturers in the Phoenix area.

With establishment of the EUL program, the Corps of Engineers began exploring a potential partnership with one of the private firms, Stullenbarger said. GM was selected because it was willing to meet the Army's specifications and because "it was the most community-minded. Their first questions were about the schools and the quality of life, then they got down to kicking the dirt."

Groundwork has already started, he said. The goal is to begin construction by Sept. 1, with completion by 2009.

In a show of community support for the project, the Yuma County Board of Supervisors in May agreed in principle to repay a $250,000 loan from the Arizona Commerce and Economic Development Commission as an incentive for the automaker.

While the loan is a fraction of the project's total cost, the county's decision "shows commitment that we're willing to step up and do whatever we can to bring them to our community," Chris Camacho, president and CEO of Greater Yuma Economic Development, said at the time.

Camacho said the project will have a significant impact on the community. GM will have an expected initial workforce of 169, with the average annual wage in the upper-$60,000 range for a total payroll of more than $22 million a year.

"That's new money coming in. They will work, live, eat and sleep here. That will create other new jobs."

The project will also have a large indirect impact, creating contractor and support jobs, attracting ancillary businesses and drawing an expected 2,300 visitors a year who will need rental cars and hotel rooms, Camacho said.

"I think this will be prestigious for Yuma," Stullenbarger said. "When this is done, this will be an impressive company moving to Yuma. Other companies will say there's got to be something happening here."

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TEST COMPLEX AT A GLANCE

-The joint-use, high-speed test complex will be located within 2,400 acres at Yuma Proving through an Enhanced Use Lease agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and General Motors.

-The EUL program is a tool used by the federal government to attract private-sector capital and expertise to acquire, construct or upgrade federal facilities. To date, there are 35 active and proposed EUL projects at 16 installations around the country.

-The EUL agreement between the Army and General Motors is the first instance where two similar activities - industry vehicle testing and military vehicle testing - directly share the benefits through joint use of the improvements.

-YPG is the Department of Defense's reliance lead for hot-weather testing of vehicles. Currently, the installation has a critical need for additional and improved test tracks.

-GM will develop and maintain the $100 million complex. In lieu of rent, the automaker will provide at its own cost both a paved and a gravel track built to meet Army specifications to test high-speed, heavy military vehicles.

-The adjacent stand-alone GM facility will be a major complex with a wide scope of capabilities for testing the full range of vehicles GM produces worldwide.

-The complex will have an expected initial work force of 169 people earning an average annual wage of more than $60,000.

-The project also will create contractor and support jobs, attract ancillary businesses and draw an expected 2,300 visitors a year, who will need rental cars and hotel rooms

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Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.