The Bowling Green Assembly Plant is the only place in the world where Corvettes are made and has been since 1981, two years after GM bought the plant from Chrysler.

When the C7 is in full production, about 700 full-time workers will crank out as many as 16 Corvette Stingrays an hour in the one million-square-foot facility.

That makes GM one of the biggest employers in southern Kentucky.

“For every job we create in Bowling Green, that creates seven jobs in the local community,” plant manager Dave Tatman says. “Some of those jobs may be hotel or restaurant jobs, but nevertheless, they’re jobs.”

Before starting plant modifications to make the new Stingray, the plant claimed annual payroll of $53.4 million, which generates about $8.3 million in payroll taxes. GM listed annual property taxes paid there as $362,000.

The plant, just off I-65 in Bowling Green, usually is open to the public for tours, but it has been shut down to ramp up for production of the C7. Officials hope to reopen the plant to the public in the fall.