Sunday, April 17, 2011
By Karl Henkel
khenkel@vindy.com
CANFIELD
A 700-mile commute might seem like a long trip just to pick up a car.
For Mark Santilli, it means a trip home and a brand-new Chevrolet Cruze.
He’s arranged to pick up his new vehicle from the Lordstown plant, which he remembers visiting as a boy, Wednesday morning, then drive it back home to Wilmington, N.C., where he now works as marketing manager for Jeff Gordon Chevrolet.
Santilli said despite living outside Ohio for most of his adult life, he still considers the Valley home. That’s one reason he’s making the trek and a major factor in his dealership taking on 100 Cruzes.
Santilli’s upbringing, which included living in a family-built house on Summit Street in Canfield, epitomized the Midwestern, blue-collar family of the era.
His father, Anthony, and grandfather, Salvatore, worked for U.S. Steel; his grandfather-in-law, Leon Gibson, and brother, Howard, were both employed by the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co..
“You had your choice,” Howard said. “You could go to work at a steel mill or you could go work at GM Lordstown.”
The de-industrialization of Youngstown in the late 1970s forced Mark to relocate, first to a GM plant in Linden, N.J., and eventually down the East Coast to sunny North Carolina.
The generational ties to the auto and manufacturing industries make the success of one of GM’s newest vehicles — the Cruze — even more special.
Mark wants to see the success continue, and to show his support, will this week fly into Akron, pick up his Cruze and drive it back home, an 11-plus hour trip.
His inspiration for the idea started with his dealership’s first shipment of Cruzes shortly after its launch. Initially dealers took on about 20 Cruzes, then put in for any leftovers after all other dealers staked their claim.
Mark didn’t take another 20. He decided to get as many as he could, 100.
Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.