Mahoning Valley can bask in the national spotlight

The unveiling of General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Cobalt on Dec. 29 in Los Angeles presents the Mahoning Valley with a great opportunity to show the nation and the world that this region can compete with the best of them when it comes to manufacturing and that the business climate has never been better.
Given that the Cobalt will be built at GM's Lordstown plant and will replace one of the automaker's top-selling cars, the Chevrolet Cavalier, which is also a Lordstown product, the Mahoning Valley will certainly be in the spotlight at the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. There will be hundreds of industry types and automotive writers from around the world at the show, and the new compact car will be one of the top attractions.
Thus, the story of how the Lordstown plant -- and by extension the Valley -- was able to defeat other regions of the country in the Cobalt sweepstakes deserves to be told. The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber should work with the Ohio Department of Development in putting together a presentation and preparing talking points that focus on the winning strategy.
One of the most important elements has to be the labor-management relationship forged several years ago at GM's Lordstown assembly plant by then plant manager Herman Maass and then UAW Local 1112 shop chairman Al Alli. That relationship was strengthened after Alli died and was succeeded by Jim Graham.
Per unit cost
Union officials and plant managers realized that if Lordstown was to have any chance of winning a new product, it had to significantly reduce the per unit cost of its cars. GM executives in Detroit had made it clear that the company was no longer willing to sell its small cars at a loss to establish brand loyalty among young buyers. It wanted to make a profit on every car.
The UAW and management made enormous progress toward that goal. In addition, UAW Local 1112 approved shelf agreements that gave General Motors an incentive to take a hard look at the Lordstown facility for its successor to the Chevrolet Cavalier.
Another very important element in the strategy was the role of state government, in particular the personal involvement of Gov. Bob Taft and his predecessor, George V. Voinovich, now a U.S. senator, in persuading GM that the residents of the Mahoning Valley had earned the company's good will.
And to demonstrate their confidence in the Lordstown plant's ability to produce another best-selling automobile for GM, first Voinovich and then Taft made it clear to company executives that Ohio would better any economic incentive package offered by other states.
Indeed, Ohio's success in luring Chrysler Corp.'s Jeep plant to Toledo in 1997 was offered as proof of the state's willingness to go the extra mile to win. Voinovich, as governor, was well aware that Chrysler was being aggressively courted by other states, and he let it be known that Ohio would develop an incentive package that would be as good as, if not better, than any others on the table.
That same approach was used with General Motors. The company found out in early 1999, when Taft was sworn in as governor and Voinovich took a seat in the Senate, that the two veteran Republican politicians shared a common goal: bringing the new product to Lordstown.
The economic development specialists who had worked in the Voinovich administration on the project were retained by Taft, and the commitment to present GM with an incentive package that it could not refuse was reiterated by the new administration.
And so, when it was time to act, Ohio unveiled a $95 million package over seven years that blew the competition away.
A third important element in the strategy to secure the new product was the "Bring It Home" campaign led by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber and involving hundreds of Valley residents, including political and community leaders. The campaign was designed to show General Motors that it was very much a part of the Mahoning Valley family. It worked.
In announcing the decision in August 2002 that the Lordstown plant had been selected to build the successor to the Chevrolet Cavalier, GM officials heaped praise on all those who participated in the campaign, but they expressed special gratitude to the people of the Valley for standing by the company through good times and bad.
Keynote address
That is why it so important that the story of the bid for the Cobalt be told Dec. 29. On that day, Gary Cowger, president of GM North America, will present a keynote address to the press and industry analysts. Cowger is ideally suited to talk about the Lordstown facility. In October 1985, he was named manufacturing manager for Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac and after about two years in that position was named manager of manufacturing for the Cadillac Motor Division in Detroit.
Cowger took over as head of GM's North America operations in November 2001.
It would be too presumptuous to expect one of the company's top executives to spend his time talking about the Mahoning Valley when he has a brand new car to sell to the world. We have no doubt that he will have lots of positive things to say about the Lordstown assembly plant, seeing how the Cavalier has consistently been one of the best-selling cars in GM's fleet and has scored high in quality and driver satisfaction.
It is, therefore, up to the chamber and others in the Valley to use the Cobalt's unveiling as a marketing tool for this region.
That should not be a difficult assignment. How about this for a campaign slogan: "Just ask GM."