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INDUSTRY-
November 2002 by Ron Cooper Sidebar-
That particular Explorer was made right in Barry’s backyard – at the Louisville Assembly Plant on Fern Valley Road. Nick Steele, Ford’s president and chief operating officer, spoke at the ceremony marking the occasion. “The customer always has been at the forefront of our efforts to make Explorer a safe, practical and comfortable vehicle, and we know that the customer has always been at the forefront of your efforts,” Steele said. “That’s why we are here and still going strong – five million Explorers later.” John Tankesley, manager of the Louisville Assembly Plant, added that the cooperative effort of labor, management and public sector have paved the way for the production of quality vehicles at the plant. But in the end, he said, “it is the customer that has really spoken.” Barry, the father of three and a golf shop owner, speaks volumes about what Ford means to him. He is not merely an avid fan of Explorer. He’s also passionate about supporting the auto manufacturer that employs many of his friends and neighbors. “It’s like a friend buying from a friend,” he said. “It was a no-brainer.” That’s music to the ears of Ford, whose much-touted Explorer has been the country’s best-selling SUV for 11 consecutive years. The vehicle achieved its best sales month ever in August, when it sold more than 51,000 – a considerable achievement when considering consumer spending has been thwarted by a sagging economy. Ford is king in Louisville. The company has poured billions of dollars into the city’s two automotive plants and there are strong indications that more investment will follow soon. Combined, these plants employ nearly 10,000 men and women. The plants’ overall economic impact is mind-boggling. Annually, they account for a $713 million payroll, nearly $42 million in state and local taxes, and $7 million in contributions to community causes. On top of that are millions of dollars of additional investment and thousands of jobs by suppliers who have seen fit to relocate to Louisville to better serve the automotive giant. Everybody in Louisville is singing Ford’s praises. Leading the choir is Mayor Dave Armstrong, who began his long-term relationship with the company when he became Jefferson County judge-executive in 1990. “When I came into office, the Ford Truck Plant was open every other month and the Louisville Assembly Plant was making Crown Victorias.”
“We have truly become part of the auto industry’s hub for excellence,” Armstrong said. “We’re very proud to be part of Ford country.” Mike Bosc, spokesman for Greater Louisville Inc., the metro chamber of commerce, said the Ford plants have been a feather in the cap for the community. “There’s probably no more cyclical industry than the automotive industry, but the two plants here rank very high in quality and productivity. They have had great labor relations for more than a decade.” The plants are bright stars in Ford’s constellation. In January 2002, the company reacted to its 2001 loss of $5.45 billion by announcing the closing of five plants in North America, a move that means the elimination of 22,000 jobs. One of the communities targeted is St. Louis, which also manufactures the Ford Explorer. St. Louis’ loss is Louisville’s gain. Kentucky officials and Ford are now in talks to upgrade the Louisville Assembly Plant to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars to take on the production capacity laid down in St. Louis around 2005. News of those talks came on the heels of Ford’s announcement of investing $50 million in the Kentucky Truck Plant to expand production of the highly popular Super Duty pickups. Super Duty trucks make up about 40 percent of sales of Ford’s F-Series trucks, the company’s biggest-selling line of vehicles. The plant produces 348,000 of the trucks annually. “The Kentucky Truck Plant is already one of our most efficient and modern plants, and these improvements will make it even better,” said Anne Stevens, vice president of North America Vehicle Operations for Ford. The Kentucky Truck Plant is huge, sprawling 4.6 million square feet of space to produce the F-Series trucks. “The Super Duty is clearly the segment leader and is key to our long-term growth and job security,” said Plant Manager John Crew. This is a great time for Ford’s truck segment. In 1999, truck sales eclipsed car sales for the very first time, according to Autodata, which monitors industry sales. That year, U.S. consumers purchased 8.7 million trucks, compared to 8.6 million cars. Since then, the gap was widened. Trucks accounted for 50.3 percent of U.S. sales in 2000 and 51.8 million percent in 2001. Truck sales are continuing to outstrip cars this year, with industry analysts estimating that trucks accounted for about 52.2 percent of U.S. sales in August.
In addition, hundreds of auto-parts suppliers have flocked to the state to serve the automakers. One such supplier to Ford in Louisville is Plastech Engineered Products Inc. of Dearborn, Mich. In 2000, Plastech built a plant to manufacture interior trim products primarily for the Ford Explorer and Sport Trac made in Louisville. The plant employs 375. “We’re only 1.5 miles from Louisville Assembly Plant, saving them millions in shipping charges,” said Plastech General Manager Jeff Hemer. “It is a win-win situation for both our companies.” Ford is also a win-win for the local charities in Louisville. Ford Motor Company and its employees at the two Louisville plants give back to the community through a variety of ways each year. In 2001, Ford Motor Company and Ford employees in Louisville donated more than $7 million to local community organizations. Ford’s Louisville Community Relations Committee (CRC) increased its contributions last year to more than $525,000, up from approximately $440,000 in 2000. The Louisville CRC donated funds to a variety of organizations supporting education, environment, health and welfare, civic affairs and public policy, and arts and humanities last year. A full list of beneficiaries of Ford’s support is too lengthy to mention, but it includes organizations such as the Kentucky Center for the Arts, the Louisville Ballet, Black Achievers, Junior Achievement of Kentuckiana, Jefferson County Schools, Metro United Way, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville and the Louisville Zoo Society. In June 2001, Ford Motor Company Fund announced a $5-million donation to the Muhammad Ali Center. The Center will be located on the riverfront in Louisville, hometown to Ali, and will develop worldwide education programs focused on conflict resolution and diversity/multicultural training. The Muhammad Ali Center will include the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution, a partnership with the University of Louisville. Ford’s Boost America! campaign also stopped in Louisville in September 2001. Boost America! donated 25,000 booster seats to low-income families in Kentucky. The local support is part of the company’s national campaign to increase the awareness and proper use of booster seats and child safety seats. A significant portion of the funds donated in 2001 came directly from the checkbooks of employees at the two Ford plants. Employee donations to the United Way totaled $795,000 from the truck plant and $639,500 from the assembly plant. Employees also gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to community organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Juvenile Diabetes and the Red Cross. Another enduring example of employees’ giving spirit was evident during the Christmas holiday. Last year, for the first time, both plants participated in “Adopt-A-Child” programs. The programs provided workers with the opportunity to reach out to children in surrounding counties who might not have had a bright Christmas otherwise. For the 18th year in a row, assembly plant employees participated in the plant’s “Adopt A Child” program. The assembly plant also held its annual holiday party for over 450 area children last year. Workers donated more than $100,000 to buy gifts for children from Bullitt, Jefferson, Shelby and Hardin counties in Kentucky and Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties in Indiana. At the truck plant, employees created the “Sharing the Blessing” program. Approximately 600 children from the Kentuckiana visited the truck plant for a holiday party. Along with a magic show, caroling, gifts and a visit from Santa, truck plant employees spent more than $120,000 last year on holiday outreach programs. And what about the
future of Ford in Louisville? Commented Bosc of Greater Louisville Inc.:
“The future of the automotive industry appears pretty bright. Of
course, we never want to take a corporate citizen for granted. We want
to continue to support Ford to make it easier for them to remain in
our community.” Ron Cooper is
a staff writer of The Lane Report. Click here to see a list of Kentucky Motor Vehicle-Related Facilities |
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Patrick
Barry of Louisville bought his first Ford Explorer in 1991 shortly after
its debut. In September, he purchased his fourth Explorer in 11 years,
a transaction that became a footnote in the history of the popular-selling
SUV: He is the proud owner of the five millionth Explorer to roll off
the company’s assembly lines.
Then
began a decade of big investments in the plant and a shift to other
models. Today, the plants manufacture some of the company’s biggest
and best sellers. Besides the Explorer, these include the wildly popular
F-Series trucks built by the Kentucky Truck Plant. Ford’s Louisville
operations burst at the seams in the 1990s and the pace has not slowed
down much despite a lackluster economy that has shut or curtailed sister
plants under the Ford umbrella.
Ford,
the largest manufacturer in Kentucky, helps to give the state bragging
rights on a national scale. In fact, Kentucky is at the top of the list
for automotive growth, based on the increase in jobs and facilities
in the second half of the 1990s, according to Business Facilities magazine.
Kentucky’s production of 1.25 million cars and trucks in 2000 made
it third among the states, behind only Michigan’s 3.11 million
and Ohio’s 1.86 million.