Tornado-damaged BorgWarner to resume operations in May

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BorgWarner Inc. plans to resume limited production at its tornado-damaged Seneca plant in early May.

“We have teams onsite working on necessary repairs to the facility to make this happen in a safe and efficient way,” public relations director Michelle Collins said today in an email.

The plant is in the section of Seneca hit hardest April 13 by one of several tornadoes to cut through the Upstate. The plant was closed at the time to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, but a contract security guard on duty was killed, according to the Oconee County coroner.

Collins said earlier the company hoped the time it takes to repair the plant would not exceed the time it would be shuttered anyway in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We appreciate the support of the Oconee community and the state of South Carolina, our neighbors and our customers during this time,” Collins said in the email.

The company, which has 62 facilities in 17 countries, does not say how many employees work at individual sites, but BorgWarner added 160 new jobs after announcing a $72 million investment in 2017, the company’s third expansion in four years, according to the S.C. Commerce Department.

BorgWarner makes components for the automotive industry with customers that include Ford, GM, Chrysler, Honda and Kia, according to its website. The Seneca plant is part of the drive train division and produces transfer cases, interactive torque management systems and gearing components for automobile and light truck front- and rear-wheel platforms.