Remy, as a part of General Motors and later on its own, has always had a foothold in Anderson, and it looks as if the company will continue to play a major economic role in Madison County.

Last week, Remy announced it would build a new HVH250 motor for hybrid and hybrid electric vehicles. The new product line will be funded by a $60.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and, best of all, will be produced locally.

Remy CEO John Weber said the company is looking at existing buildings in the area, which, as he noted, are plentiful. Remy used to rent out five buildings in the area for its various products. But when the company transferred production to Europe and Mexico in 2003, other tenants moved into those buildings, such as Mancor. Remy kept some production in Patriot Park near the Flagship technology park. An expansion of that production and the jobs involved would be quite a boost to Anderson.

As Linda Dawson, Anderson’s economic development director, noted, the city is on its way to becoming a central location for alternative energy vehicles. Bright Automotive, located in the Flagship, is also pioneering electric vans and is awaiting a federal grant to get into production.

When General Motors left Anderson, everyone seemed convinced that auto manufacturing was gone for good. There were some diehards who thought GM would always come back, but only a few envisioned an alternative vehicle industry. Those entrepreneurs are now about to make their plans a reality and give a kick start to a new auto industry in the area.

It makes sense because many of the engineering minds at GM merely shifted gears from the old combustion engine to newer modes of power.

Whether or not Anderson emerges on the cutting edge of alternative fuel vehicles, it seems certain that the city will be a player in the field. Anderson will have come full circle in auto manufacturing, and that would be a great thing for workers who are still struggling to find their way in a changing economy.

It will take awhile for Remy to get production going. Meanwhile the city will be helping the company locate a suitable manufacturing plant and doing everything it can to make sure that Remy does, indeed, keep its manufacturing in town.

In a city hit hard by GM’s exodus, it seems ironic that it could have a rebirth of the vehicle industry. The more things change, the more they stay the same.