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Plant manager happy to be home at Lordstown
By Kalea Hall
LORDSTOWN
Rick Demuynck, the new plant manager at the General Motors Lordstown Assembly Plant, is on his 11th stop with General Motors – and he’s happy to be “home.”
“It’s been my favorite,” he said of Lordstown. “From a family standpoint and a professional standpoint ... I really love Northeast Ohio.”
Demuynck, a Michigan native, was the assistant plant manager at Lordstown from 2009 through 2013.
His new position as plant manager of Lordstown took effect May 1. Before this position, he briefly was the plant manager at the Parma Metal Center. Before that, he was plant manager at the GM Grand Rapids, Mich., manufacturing plant.
His career truly began while growing up in an automotive neighborhood.
His father worked for Chrysler for 47 years. He was surrounded by neighbors who worked for the Detroit automakers.
“You didn’t have to throw a ball far to hit someone who worked in automotive,” he said.
Demuynck also loves vehicles, so his career path was a pretty easy choice.
His GM career started in 1984 as a GMI cooperative student. He went on to work in Detroit; Shreveport, La.; and even South Africa. He has led plant turnarounds, launched new products, improved business performance and built labor-management relationships in his more than 31 years with GM.
During his previous time at Lordstown, the plant saw a transition from building the Chevrolet Cobalt to the Chevrolet Cruze, which quickly rose to success as GM’s best-selling car and the top-selling compact car in a segment typically led by foreign automakers.
Now, the next-generation Cruze has come to compete again with more connectivity, enhanced safety features and an upgraded sleek style.
“It’s a lot,” Demuynck said. “There’s a tremendous amount of features and capability in those features.”
As for the future of the plant that employs 4,500, Demuynck says it’s “what we make of it.”
“It is time for us to deliver,” he said. “We will.”
It’s obvious Demuynck feels a connection to the plant and the Mahoning Valley. He takes pride in being the head of such a massive operation: a 6.2 million-square-foot plant with more than 23.5 miles of conveyor.
And it’s no secret that this plant is a high-volume producer. More than 1.5 million first-generation Cruzes were built from 2010 to 2015.
“I am somewhat protective of the Lordstown name,” Demuynck said.
Demuynck’s wife and three children also are happy to be “home.”
They feel at home because of the people here, the area’s values and the emphasis on family.
“I am a Michigan guy by heart, but this is certainly home,” he said.