Finally, some good news: Manufacturer announces new facility in metro with 300 jobs

Faurecia Interior, an automotive technology supplier, will open a $60 million production facility in Blue Springs.

The French company announced plans on Thursday to open the 250,000-square-foot facility on 25 acres near Northeast 20th Street and Interstate 70.

Faurecia Interior, a nearly $6 billion company in North America, develops and makes interior vehicle and emissions components.

The company used to have a location in Riverside that employed as many as 300 employees, but that location closed. A company spokesman could not immediately say when the Riverside production facility closed. He added that the Blue Springs location is not a relocation of the Riverside operation, as different Faurecia Interior facilities serve different customers and components.

Local development officials cheered Faurecia Interior’s announcement. News in Kansas City’s manufacturing scene has been dour so far this year with announced closings of the Harley Davidson motorcycle facility in the Northland and Procter & Gamble’s facility in Kansas City, Kan.

Combined, those two closings would affect nearly 1,200 workers.

“Kansas City offers a strong competitive advantage to growing manufacturing operations, particularly in the automotive industry,” said Tim Cowden, president and CEO, Kansas City Area Development Council. “We are very proud to welcome Faurecia to our robust automotive cluster and look forward to the company's success in our region.”

Faurecia has a location in Wentzville, Mo., as well.

This story was originally published February 15, 2018 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Finally, some good news: Manufacturer announces new facility in metro with 300 jobs."