Editing Wyoming, Michigan (section)

==== Great Depression and General Motors ====
As the [[Great Depression]] affected the world's economy in the 1930s, Grand Rapids saw little industrial development as there was no demand for luxury furniture, the city's main economic product.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=7}}<ref name="CVDS1682" /> During the economic depression, the cheap furniture laborers residing in Wyoming were laid off and at least twenty-five percent of citizens were unemployed.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=7}}<ref name="CVDS77">{{cite book|last1=Vaughn|first1=Charles|title=The City of Wyoming: A History|last2=Simon|first2=Dorothy|date=1984|publisher=Four Corners Press|location=Franklin, Michigan|pages=77–112}}</ref> Wyoming teachers took a 45% pay cut and children had to share textbooks in school.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=8}} A poor fund was established in 1931, though by September 1932, the $44,000 collected – the {{inflation|US|44000|1932|2021|fmt=eq}} – was insufficient for the project.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=10}} Small construction projects by the Township provided some funds for residents, though they were only temporary measures, with tax deadline extensions from the Township becoming common throughout the Great Depression as individuals could not afford to pay taxes.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=9}} By mid-1933, about 20% of Wyoming's workforce was unemployed.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=13}}

During the depression, many residents of Wyoming grew disillusioned with the existing unchecked [[capitalism]], [[small government]] practices and the [[laissez-faire]] economic system that relied on local governments, churches, and charities to provide the care for citizens.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=11}} When President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] introduced the [[New Deal]] and federal [[social welfare]] programs – including the [[Civil Works Administration]], [[Public Works Administration]], and [[Federal Emergency Relief Administration]] to the United States, city residents strongly approved of these actions by his government.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=11}} It was reported that men in Wyoming were grateful and wept when they were told that they would have a job for the first time in years as a result of Roosevelt's welfare programs.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=11}} Roosevelt's program helped Wyoming pay workers to construct new bridges, parks, roads, schools, and sewers; with Ideal Park, Johnson Park, and the first township office being constructed with federal funding.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=11-13}}
[[File:New General Motors Building, Grand Rapids, Michigan (64096).jpg|thumb|[[General Motors]] Stamping Division Plant, opened in 1936]]
Former [[Mayor of Grand Rapids]] George P. Tilma was elected supervisor of Wyoming Township in 1932 and was tasked with modernizing the developing suburban community from a rural town system.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=15}} In 1933, Grandville was separated from Wyoming and was established as its own city.<ref>{{cite web |last=City of Grandville |date=2021 |title=Grandville: Community Profile |url=https://www.cityofgrandville.com/our_community/community_profile.php |accessdate=October 3, 2021}}</ref> In the winter of 1933, Tilma was also able to circumvent the [[Emergency Banking Act]] in a technicality to purchase 555 tons of coal that was distributed to the poor to heat their homes.{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=15}} [[General Motors]] sought to construct a new facility in Grand Rapids, though there were no areas for development or future expansions, so the cities of Grand Rapids and Wyoming collaborated to have General Motors purchase land in Wyoming while Grand Rapids supplied utilities to the site.<ref name="CVDS1682" /> Tilma's expertise was instrumental in both secretly negotiating with Grand Rapids on utility work and with obtaining approval of the site by General Motors.<ref name="CVDS77" /> The General Motors plant began construction on January 22, 1936, and Roosevelt's New Deal funding helped construct the sewer and water system for the factory.<ref name="CVDS1682" />{{sfn|Huizinga|1971|pp=12}} The first enrollment date for employees on April 6, 1936, saw a line of workers spanning nearly {{Convert|1.5|mi|km|abbr=}} from the factory's entrance west of Buchanan Avenue and 36th Street, east to Division Avenue and then north {{Convert|1|mi|km|abbr=}} to 28th Street, with the first metal stamps being shipped from the factory on June 1, 1936.<ref name="CVDS1682" />

Following the construction of the General Motors stamping plant, development on Division Avenue increased extensively, with a new [[Kelloggsville High School]] being opened in September 1936 and a new [[Godwin Heights Public Schools|Godwin Heights High School]] being approved in January 1937.<ref name="CVDS1682" /> Supervisor Tilma died suddenly in his office in April 1937 with his death being attributed to an [[intracerebral hemorrhage]].<ref name="CVDS77" /> As World War II began, [[Reynolds Metals]] opened a plant in the township that was initially to develop airplane material in 1942.<ref name="CVDS22-333" />