"The plant would help invigorate the state's economy, which has lost 98,000 industrial jobs since 2000."
When you talk about the economic recovery and express disappointment that people are not appreciative enough.........you need to think in terms of statistics like the one above. Those 98K jobs were not fat; they were muscle. What makes it even worse......Indiana is one of this country's more successful industrial areas. So if they lost 98K jobs, how many has Michigan lost or Alabama or Kansas. This recovery is very selective and many people have been overlooked. So then, when people are critical of Bush and the economy, this is one of the reasons for such complaints.
BTW Indiana sold its soul to get this car plant........you won't find it said in the article.......you will have to trust me on that one. They sold their soul and the only way they can recoup at all is if feeder plants are drawn to the Honda plant and an infrastructure develops around it. If it does not, Indiana will be paying through the nose for those 2K jobs.
Honda to Build Car Plant in Indiana
Wednesday June 28, 11:09 am ET
By Ashley M. Heher, AP Business Writer
Honda Plans to Build a $550 Million Auto-Assembly Plant in Greensburg, Ind.
GREENSBURG, Ind. (AP) -- Honda Motor Co. will build a $550 million auto assembly plant near Greensburg, Ind., as part of a $1.18 billion global expansion, company officials announced Wednesday.
The factory will employ 2,000 workers and eventually produce 200,000 vehicles annually, officials said at a news conference.
"We believe the great state of Indiana has what we need to continue ... success," said Koichi Kondo, president of Honda North America.
The Japanese automaker announced in May that it planned to build its sixth North American plant in the Midwest, but did not say where. Officials from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin promoted sites in their states.
Indiana state Rep. Cleo Duncan, R-Greensburg, called the announcement "monumental."
"It will transform the entire region of the state."
Gov. Mitch Daniels, who returned to Indiana early after a trip to Asia, welcomed the news.
"Honda is going to feel right at home in Indiana, and you are going to love Greensburg and this part of our state," Daniels said.
Construction on the plant will be completed sometime in 2008, but Kondo did not announce which vehicles would be produced.
The plant will boost the Japanese automaker's North American production capacity from 1.4 million to 1.6 million vehicles a year.
Honda and its larger Japanese rival, Toyota Motor Corp., have been building up their North American manufacturing capacity to keep up with demand, even as U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are cutting thousands of jobs and closing plants as their market share declines. North America accounts for about half Honda's annual global sales.
Honda eyed sites east and west of Greensburg, a community of 10,500 people.
Planning officials in Decatur County were already scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss rezoning the western 1,656 acres for the plant Honda officials hope to have built by 2008.
Honda this spring collected options on land near Greensburg, 50 miles southeast of Indianapolis, offering to buy property at 75 percent more than its assessed value. The deal included a $6,000 signing bonus to landowners who agreed to sell, regardless of whether the land was used.
In Greensburg, community leaders had 300 people pose in the shape of the Honda logo as part of a campaign to demonstrate that residents welcome the plant -- and the jobs.
The plant would help invigorate the state's economy, which has lost 98,000 industrial jobs since 2000.
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