Future of GM Lordstown again poses a challenge

If there is a silver lining in the dark cloud hanging over the General Motors' Lordstown assembly plant -- we certainly think there is -- it is that a blueprint already exists for keeping this crucial economic engine humming.
Indeed, work on that blueprint began just about eight years ago when then Republican Gov.-elect Bob Taft was confronted with a similar challenge involving the Lordstown plant to the one now confronting Democratic Gov.-elect Ted Strickland.
In the waning days of 1998, General Motors announced that its board of directors was to meet to discuss the "Delta Project," which was directly impacting the Lordstown assembly plant. GM had made it known it was planning a successor to the hot-selling Chevrolet Cavalier and the Pontiac Sunfire, which were being built in Lordstown, and that the Valley was one of three locations under consideration for the new product.
In an editorial published Nov. 4, 1998, we called on Taft to keep a campaign promise and travel to Detroit as soon after his inauguration as possible to meet with GM executives.
The meeting in Detroit took place, Taft quickly realized what was at stake, not only for this region, but for the state of Ohio, and he made the future of the Lordstown facility his top priority.
The state's economic incentive package worth hundreds of millions of dollars was better than any offered by other states competing for the new product.
Major investment
Through the efforts of the Taft administration, in conjunction with local labor, political and community leaders, GM was persuaded to build the Cobalt at its Lordstown facility. It invested heavily in preparing the facilities for the new product.
Now, it is Ted Strickland's turn. Like his soon-to-be predecessor, the outgoing congressman from Lisbon won't even have time to revel in his political good fortune before he and members of his cabinet will have to address this question: What should the state of Ohio do to ensure that General Motors does not pull up stakes after the life of the Cobalt expires in 2009?
A story on the front page of Wednesday's Vindicator led with these two paragraphs:
"General Motors Corp. once again is considering shutting down its Lordstown complex.
"Union officials are being asked to make major contract changes if they want GM to commit to the plant beyond midyear 2009."
While local union leaders have been meeting in Detroit with senior United Auto Workers officials to determine what can be done to keep the Lordstown plant operating beyond '09, we have no doubt that the world's leading automaker will, at some point, provide details of its financial goals for the plant.
The Strickland administration had better be prepared to join with the Valley in formulating a response.
In this regard, we urge the governor-elect to appoint an individual from his inner circle to serve as the pointman for the General Motors challenge.
And one of the first orders of business for that person should be to meet with Taft administration officials who were involved in the successful battle for the Cobalt. Their advice, recommendations and even their written reports of the numerous meetings that were held would be invaluable.