Please take 3 minutes to watch the following video.
The million American jobs project.
https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/4FrGxO2Fn_M
I know, it happened to me and most of my friends.
We once had 4 auto manufacturing plants scattered around the St. Louis area. 1 Ford, 1 GM and 2 Chrysler. The GM plant (which once made Corvettes and pickup trucks was inside the city. The others were in the burbs. We made more cars than any place outside of Detroit. The GM plant moved about 60 miles away.
The other 3, on opposite sides of the metro area didn't move, they just closed, within a couple years of each other. There were about 6,000 direct employees between them. The Ford plant had 2600. But the ripple effect was very disheartening and almost as painful as seeing the place I spent 32 years torn down.
Ford had been building cars in St. Louis since 1914 beginning with the Model T. Our plant had been there since 1948 and over the years made every Aerostar ever produced - over 2 million of them, every Mercury Grand Marquis and Crown Victoria produced till that model was moved to Canada in 1984 as well as Explorers and Mountaineers. Up until it closed in 2006, the plant produced nearly 8 million cars and trucks. Chrysler closed in 2007. Both sites are like a moonscape now.
The entire region was hard hit but, closer to the plants, many entrepreneurs have gone out of business. Things you wouldn't even think of. Dentists, Optometrists, eyeglass store, bowling alley, restaurants, banks, credit unions even the Ford car dealership that was across the highway. All of their customers were unemployed. Other than the area businesses, there were all the people who didn't work for the manufacturers, but serviced the plants.
In my factory, over 30 people worked in the 3 cafeterias. There were 4 vending machine servicers. The lubricant salesmen, the guys that worked for the coverall supplier, robot and machine suppliers and the list goes on.
It wasn't all about quality or cost. Our facility had lowest cost and the highest corporate quality when it closed.
The million American jobs project.
https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/4FrGxO2Fn_M
I know, it happened to me and most of my friends.
We once had 4 auto manufacturing plants scattered around the St. Louis area. 1 Ford, 1 GM and 2 Chrysler. The GM plant (which once made Corvettes and pickup trucks was inside the city. The others were in the burbs. We made more cars than any place outside of Detroit. The GM plant moved about 60 miles away.
The other 3, on opposite sides of the metro area didn't move, they just closed, within a couple years of each other. There were about 6,000 direct employees between them. The Ford plant had 2600. But the ripple effect was very disheartening and almost as painful as seeing the place I spent 32 years torn down.
Ford had been building cars in St. Louis since 1914 beginning with the Model T. Our plant had been there since 1948 and over the years made every Aerostar ever produced - over 2 million of them, every Mercury Grand Marquis and Crown Victoria produced till that model was moved to Canada in 1984 as well as Explorers and Mountaineers. Up until it closed in 2006, the plant produced nearly 8 million cars and trucks. Chrysler closed in 2007. Both sites are like a moonscape now.
The entire region was hard hit but, closer to the plants, many entrepreneurs have gone out of business. Things you wouldn't even think of. Dentists, Optometrists, eyeglass store, bowling alley, restaurants, banks, credit unions even the Ford car dealership that was across the highway. All of their customers were unemployed. Other than the area businesses, there were all the people who didn't work for the manufacturers, but serviced the plants.
In my factory, over 30 people worked in the 3 cafeterias. There were 4 vending machine servicers. The lubricant salesmen, the guys that worked for the coverall supplier, robot and machine suppliers and the list goes on.
It wasn't all about quality or cost. Our facility had lowest cost and the highest corporate quality when it closed.
Last edited:
