Twenty-five-year GM veteran Larry Wilkins is leaving Tennessee and not looking back.

"When i saw the conveyor belt to Michigan, I jumped on it," he says. "We're looking for another adventure, moving north, coming to the plant up here. We're excited about it!"

Wilkins and his wife Kathleen are some of the first Spring Hill, Tennessee, transplants to begin the move up to Lansing. GM is offering job transfers to the Lansing Delta Township plant after closing Spring Hill down. Now, Wilkins is having a whirlwind couple of days here in mid-Michigan and plans to buy a home as early as Wednesday.

"We're looking for something special. We're going to be here for years. We want to get acclimated, find a nice place, make it our home," Wilkins says.

"I saw it as a different opportunity," says Casey Jones, a 22-year veteran of GM.

Jones and his wife Avis are making the move, too-- and it's a homecoming of sorts.

"I'm from Flint originally," he tells us. "I've still got a family there."

The Joneses moved to Spring Hill nearly 20 years ago and are sad to leave, but they say they know it's the right choice.

"Job security is number one," Jones says. "As long as I have a job, I'm okay. I don't mind getting up and moving when I need to."

Wilkins is deciding between homes in Charlotte, Eaton Rapids and Grand Ledge, and he knows what it all means for mid-Michigan.

"There's probably 700 coming from the Tennessee area here. A lot of these folks are buying homes, at the very least they're going to rent. They're going to make their home here, going to spend money here-- it's a boon for the area," Wilkins says.