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Local mayors to urge state, US incentives fto keep GM Lordstown open
YOUNGSTOWN
Mayors from Mahoning and Trumbull counties will send letters to the president, governor and governor-elect to urge them to offer incentives to General Motors to invest in a new product at the Lordstown complex.
The Mahoning River Corridor Mayors Association met Friday at the downtown DoubleTree by Hilton hotel and discussed a draft of the letters, which will be sent early next week.
GM announced Monday it will cease production of the Lordstown-built Chevrolet Cruze and indefinitely idle the plant March 1. About 1,500 people work at the facility.
The letters will ask President Donald Trump, outgoing Gov. John Kasich and Gov.-elect Mike DeWine “for your assistance in responding to this crisis. We hope federal and state incentives could be offered to GM to induce investment in a new product line.”
If GM permanently closes the complex, the association will ask the government leaders to assist in “recruiting a different auto manufacturer” to the site. If that fails, the association will ask help in getting GM to “give the property in Lordstown to the local community for redevelopment and job creation.”
The association includes the mayors of Youngstown, Warren, Struthers, Campbell, Lowellville, Newton Falls, Niles, Girard and McDonald.
Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill, who is not an association member, attended Friday’s meeting and said he’s still optimistic that the plant can be saved.
“They haven’t told us they’re going to permanently shut us down,” Hill said of GM. “I’m hopeful we’ll have a new line.”
Hill has already spoken to numerous officials including DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, U.S. Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan. They all expressed support, he said.
Warren Mayor Doug Franklin, the association’s president, said, “We want to focus and zero in on a new product. We want to stay on task with that. Obviously, GM is at the forefront of our target, but any large automaker would serve our Valley well.”
Girard Mayor Jim Melfi said news that GM would stop making the Cruze and that nothing is replacing it at Lordstown was “gut-wrenching” news. “It’s a bit depressing, but we’re going to dig back in, and I’m hopeful something will go into that facility. It means a lot to the Valley.”
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Meanwhile, Ryan of Howland, D-13th, is asking members of the public to share their stories about what the plant means to the community.
“Over the next few weeks, my mission is to make sure Congress, the president, and the American people hear from you,” Ryan said Friday on Twitter. “I want them to know what GM Lordstown means to us. Share your stories with me so I can take them to D.C. Your voice will not go unheard.”
Community members can share stories via a Google Doc by clicking here.
In an impassioned speech Friday on the House floor, Ryan said also took aim at United States’ economic policies.
“We’ve been trying this for 40 years, since 1980, the supply-side economics policy that’s been pushed in this country,” he said. “If it’s so damned good why isn’t it working for working-class people? That’s what I want to know.”
Also, despite reports that GM Chief Executive Mary Barra would go to Capitol Hill next week to discuss plans to halt production at five North American plants, a congressional aide told The Vindicator that visit is not happening.
Also, the Eastwood Mall complex in Niles is offering $25 gift cards to each Lordstown GM employee. In order to receive a gift card, each employee is asked to go to the mall’s customer service center and show his or her GM identification card between Dec. 3 and 19.
Contributor: Jordyn Grzelewski