(10-02-17) - Lear Corp. broke ground on a new plant Monday that will bring hundreds of new jobs to the city of Flint.

"It's real personal for me." said Lear executive Ray Scott.

His ties to the city of Flint run deep.

"I went to school right here at Flint Powers, worked here in Flint, my family's from Flint, so obviously I'm very biased towards everything we are doing here," said Scott

The desire to see his old hometown back on track is why he is in the Vehicle City this afternoon, to do his part in Flint's economic turnaround.

"This is the grand opening of our new facility here in Flint. We're putting up a brand new world-class facility that's going to employ 600 people," said Scott.

Lear Corp. broke ground on a new 100,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on the site of the former Buick City administration building. The facility will produce seats for General Motors pickup trucks.

"We talked about jobs coming and we said that while we've this water crisis, this is a tipping point for us," said Flint Mayor Karen Weaver.

She said having a company like Lear make this kind of commitment to Flint goes a long way towards rebuilding the city.

"We knew that economic development was a big piece of the recovery that we needed to have happen, so for Lear to believe and have this vision, we're very excited and very thankful and grateful to them," said Weaver.

Flint was selected over places like Mexico.

"Why not Flint? It's a win-win for the community, it's a win for Lear, it's a win for our customers," said Scott.

If everything goes as scheduled, the new plant should be up and running next year.