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Vice President Mike Pence visits General Motors plant making ventilators in Kokomo

Posted at 5:41 PM, Apr 30, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-30 17:41:38-04

KOKOMO — Vice President Mike Pence visited the General Motors plant in Kokomo Thursday to see first hand the ventilators it's currently making.

Pence toured the plant, greeted workers, and congratulated them on their efforts. The plant has been making life-saving ventilators to healthcare systems across the nation fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month alone, it made more than 600 ventilators.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is paying the company to produce 30,000 ventilators by the end of August.

To help make the ventilators, the company is planning to hire more than 1,000 employees.

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"Obviously a lot of people have been laid off in our community as communities across the country," Howard County Commissioner Paul Wyman said. "And then all of a sudden to have 1000 jobs show up, what a nice shot in the arm that was for us."

The added jobs have been a morale boost for the community, Wyman says.

"It's really lifted folks spirits. When you're on a stay at home orders for a long time, it affects people. And so anytime there's some really good news like that it becomes something that folks can rally around."