Taft should pitch Lordstown in meeting with auto execs

General Motors Corp.'s Lordstown assembly plant could be the trump card for Ohio Gov. Bob Taft as he makes a bid for an engine factory that Toyota reportedly wants to build on 400 to 600 acres in North America. The plant in Lordstown, which is producing GM's newest compact model, the Cobalt, could also be the governor's show-and-tell when he meets with company officials during the Detroit Auto Show later this month.
GM's decision to build the Cobalt in the Mahoning Valley was not only a major victory for the assembly plant and the region, but for the state of Ohio, as well. That's because Taft, following the lead of his predecessor, George V. Voinovich, pulled out all the stops in the competition to land the $1 billion-plus project. Company officials have acknowledged that the economic incentive package placed on the table by the Taft administration was by far better than what other states had offered.
The Lordstown plant, with its high ratings for quality, production cost and labor-management relations, the Valley's political and community leaders and state officials all shared in the glory. The all-out push to land the project laid to rest the old complaint from state officials about this region's not being able to get its act together.
Indeed, the successful campaign to keep the Youngstown Air Reserve Station off the Pentagon's closing list proved that the success of the Cobalt project was not a fluke.
Strong case
Armed with these examples of how economic development and job creation and retention are done in Ohio, the governor should be able to present a strong case to Toyota officials.
"We're working very hard," Taft told Vindicator correspondent Jeff Ortega last week. "I've written letters. I've spoken to Toyota officials."
He added that the state development department is looking at various sites, but he declined to go into details.
"We're definitely competing very aggressively," Taft said.
That's good news -- which could be made even better if sites in the Mahoning Valley are on the list. We have no doubt that given the opportunity, this region could make a very good showing.
But while he is making a pitch to Toyota, we would remind the governor that there is a project that may be easier to land, namely GM's plan to shut down a section of its Saturn plant in Tennessee and move production of the Saturn Ion to another facility.
There have been persistent reports that the Lordstown assembly plant is one of the top contenders for the Ion, but there has been no official word from the company.
GM's financial woes, coupled with Delphi Corp.'s anticipated closing of plants in Ohio, could strengthen Taft's argument that GM's Lordstown facility is not only able to accommodate another product line, but the success of the Cobalt proves that labor and management have developed a winning strategy.
Taft's development team should go to Detroit prepared to make GM an offer it would be hard-pressed to refuse, considering its precarious financial condition.