A Denver, Colorado Story
In 1963, my husband and I both (but separately) began our careers in Denver, Colorado with General Motors in the warehousing division, which was the Chevrolet Parts Division at the time. By 1968, we were known as the General Motors Parts Division, followed by the General Motors Warehousing Division, and then the General Motors Service Parts Operations (SPO) - as it is today. The first building opened in the 1950s and included employees from the Kansas City, Missouri area. In 1959, the operation moved to a more modern facility near Denver's Stapleton Airport. In 2003, a "template" facility was opened with some of the latest warehousing technology incorporated into the design. The Denver operation is one of the smallest of the SPO facilities, making it almost a "mom and pop" operation. Yet, despite its size, it has the largest geographical area and challenge to deliver parts to GM dealerships in more than 7 states. Over the years, there have been many changes in the makeup of the population. In 1963, there were 50 salaried and approximately 150 hourly employees. As of July 2008, the total population will be considerably less than half that. During the latter part of our careers, Denver welcomed many hourly and some salaried people from various divisions and many parts of the country. Obviously, this had some effect on the culture of what had been a workforce of mostly local men and women. Now Denver has become a "melting pot", in keeping with the foundation of our country.
We have been retired from the Denver operation since May of 1999 and feel fortunate, proud, and grateful to have worked for such a world leader - never mind today's press! My husband was an hourly employee for 17 years and a salaried safety supervisor when we retired. I began as a salaried entry-level clerk and retired from the personnel department. We love retirement and all it allows - travel, golf, gardening, and spending time with our 11 grandchildren and their parents. We still live in the Denver area (ironically, Centennial, Colorado, to be exact) - hard to beat what this area has to offer!
Happy Centennial, General Motors - we'll forever be loyal.
Hal and Sylvia Lear
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