Job security for most workers at Chrysler Group LLC's Toledo Machining Plant was celebrated Tuesday after the automaker announced a $72 million investment in the Perrysburg Township factory.

"Really, we're going to celebrate and just enjoy this one," said Rich DeVore, president of United Auto Workers Local 1435 at the plant. "It's good for everybody. It's going to keep everybody working."

Robert Mack, a Perrysburg Township trustee, said he was "ecstatic" about the announcement.

"Nothing lasts forever, but if you take care of your people -- and they take care of their employees and we take care of them governmentwise -- it should be a long-lasting relationship. We're happy that they feel the love, and we certainly are feeling their love today."

Chrysler said it intends to invest in the Toledo Machining Plant to produce upgraded torque converters and steering columns for its next generation of front and rear-drive automobiles. It is a key move for the long-term security of a plant that supplies parts for many of Chrysler's vehicles.

The investment will pay for the installation of new equipment and special tooling to upgrade the 45-year-old plant.

Work on the plant is expected to begin this fall and be completed in the first quarter of 2013, Chrysler said.

The investment will not add jobs or bring an expansion to the plant, which is along the Ohio Turnpike. But it will preserve 640 hourly and salaried workers there, the automaker said. The investment is subject to the approval of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, which is scheduled to meet Monday in Columbus to approve state incentives for the project.

Gov. John Kasich, who met Tuesday with Chrysler officials in Auburn Hills, Mich., told reporters afterward that "we have significantly improved our relationship with Chrysler" and that paved the way for the announcement.

"We're working hard to make job creators see that Ohio is the place to be and it's encouraging to see that effort beginning to pay off," he said in a statement. "We're going to do everything we can to help Chrysler succeed in Ohio, as well as other automakers and other job creators who can have the positive impact Ohio needs."

Chrysler's planned new torque converters to be made at the suburban Toledo plant will be paired with the next-generation eight-speed rear-wheel drive transmissions and the all-new nine-speed front-wheel drive transmission to be produced at the company's Kokomo, Ind., transmission plants. The new transmissions and torque converters, developed with technology partner ZF Friedrichshafen AG, are an integral part of the automaker's strategy to increase fuel economy.

Large-sized vehicles such the Chrysler 300 sedan that have been fitted with the eight-speed transmission and Chrysler's award-winning Pentastar V-6 engine have been rated at 31 miles per gallon highway, according to earlier statements by Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler's chairman and chief executive officer.

"We welcome this investment in Toledo Machining, as it is an acknowledgement of the high-quality components that have been produced by our skilled work force for many years," Scott Garberding, Chrysler's senior vice president and head of manufacturing, said in a statement. "Being able to bring new technology to this facility secures its long-term future."

The 640 jobs retained by the new investment are considerably less than the plant's employment of about 765 hourly and 75 salaried workers. Company spokesman Jodi Tinson said that doesn't mean a reduction in jobs at the plant. The lower job numbers, she said, take into consideration the fewest number of employees that will be retained, and more workers could be added later to meet demand.

General Holiefield, vice president and director of the UAW's Chrysler department, said in a statement: "This will help preserve and enhance jobs in the city and give a greater measure of security to our members and their families well into the future."

Mr. DeVore, head of Local 1435, said the workers were "very excited" when they were informed Tuesday. "It will be Miller time -- and Miller is a UAW shop," he said with a laugh.

"I think it shows the work force here in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan is second to none," he said. "Thank God for [President] Obama and the effort to push the loans through for the auto industry. Without that and without our [voluntary employees' beneficiary association] fund, we wouldn't be alive as a plant now."

Mr. DeVore said the new torque converters have potential for further expansion.

John Hrosko, Perrysburg Township administrator, called the announcement great news for the township.

"It's nice to have those jobs in the community pumping money back into the community through retail and other things," he said. "It's also a great image builder for Perrysburg Township. It's a huge plant that has all those jobs, nearly 700. It makes us more secure."

The township sent letters of support when officials learned it might be planned, he said. The township doesn't receive payroll taxes so it didn't have incentives to offer to Chrysler.

No incentives were offered, either, by the schools or by Wood County, said Tom Blaha, executive director of Wood County Economic Development Commission.

Toledo Machining, which now is 1.2 million square feet, was built in 1966 and expanded in 1969.

Contact Jon Chavez at: jchavez@theblade.com or 419-724-6128.