Ohio playing a crucial role in GM Lordstown’s stablity

Every governor of Ohio starting with James A. Rhodes in 1964 has committed the financial power of state government to General Motors Corp.’s Lordstown assembly complex to ensure that the world’s leading automaker doesn’t have an excuse to pull up stakes.

And for the 24 years since Rhodes participated in the ground breaking for the plant in Lordstown Village, that commitment has paid dividends. To be sure, there were times when it seemed that the odds were against the Mahoning Valley’s top employer, but whenever state government was asked to step forward, it did.

And so it was that Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee I. Fisher came to Lordstown on Thursday and joined General Motors’ chairman and chief executive officer, Rick Wagoner, other company officials and union leaders in an announcement that begins a new chapter in the history of the assembly plant.

The $80 million in incentives from the state has triggered a $350 million-plus investment by the company to build the Chevrolet Cruze, the all-new global compact car that will replace the highly successful Chevrolet Cobalt and the Pontiac G5, which went into production in 2004.

Strickland and Fisher let Wagoner know that the state stands ready to double its financial participation in the plant or another GM facility in Ohio if the CEO is willing to make a commitment for future products.

In public, at least, Wagoner refused to take the bait, but the governor and lieutenant governor met with him and other GM officials privately after the unveiling of a model of the Cruze. Ohio’s top political leaders made it clear that the offer wasn’t some public relations stunt.

Intense competition

That’s good news for the Valley, which certainly needs a partner in Columbus, given the intense competition for GM’s future investments.

Indeed, while there were many federal, state and local officials who attended the Cruze’s unveiling, two who were missed were former governors Bob Taft and George V. Voinovich.

In 2002, when the Lordstown plant was in competition with other facilities around the country for the Cobalt, Taft instructed his economic development team to make sure that the economic incentive package offered to GM was superior to any other from the states in the running.

Thus, when company officials came to the Valley to announce that the Cobalt and Pontiac G5 were ours, they let it be known that the active involvement of Taft administration was a major reason for their choosing Lordstown.

That choice resulted in a $1 billion investment by GM for the construction of a new paint shop and other improvements.

As for Voinovich, who was governor before Taft and is now Ohio’s senior U.S. senator, his decision to have the state build access roads off Interstate 80 to facilitate easy entry to and exit from the plant, especially for truck traffic, sent a strong signal to GM’s headquarters in Detroit: The state of Ohio will do whatever it takes to keep the Mahoning Valley in your long-term plans.

It is notable that Voinovich and Taft are Republicans, while this area is predominantly Democratic. Yet, their commitment to the future of the facility was unwavering.

Strickland and Fisher are Democrats who enjoy strong support in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. Their commitment can be taken for granted.