Let’s drive it home

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In today’s edition of The Vindicator, we extend to you a full page poster for the “Drive It Home” campaign – a Valleywide effort to demonstrate to General Motors the region’s loyalty and belief in Lordstown.

It’s our way of showing that the facility is important to us. It’s also a tool to offer readers a chance to express the same feelings by displaying the page poster on walls and windows – building the belief that Lordstown is important to more than just its workers.

The Valley and GM have been partners at Lordstown since 1966.

If it were a marriage, it would now be producing great-grandchildren.

That partnership, or marriage – like all – has had its bumps.

Lordstown is that family in your greater family tree that you watch, don’t always understand or agree with, but know in the end they’re family, period. Life is better with them.

We’re at that bumpy point again with Lords-town as GM has announced its plans to close the facility in four weeks. Closure would be decimating.

For example, last year, $35 million in GM funds was injected into our economy. Just in bonuses.

“Drive It Home” is a campaign of many, captained by the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.

Chamber President/CEO James Dignan has piloted a great ship thus far, partnered with Dave Green, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112.

Most noteworthy of Dignan’s approach is his steadfastness in keeping the tone positive and partnering.

We’re in a blame-and-shame society. The social media engines make it everywhere and intoxicating. GM and its CEO Mary Barra have been intense targets since this news came out in November.

In Canada, where a similar closure is targeted, the union there paid for a Super Bowl ad. The message was as biting and provocative toward GM as it was expensive.

Dignan has led the coalition here to have none of that with “Drive It Home.” It’s been impressive.

And now it’s down to a critical few weeks that will set forth a hiatus of many months or, possibly, forever.

We’re proud to take part today in saying we want Lordstown to continue. We offer this poster this week as well as the next two Sundays.

The Vindicator has provided leading journalism throughout the 50-plus years of the plant: starting with the Caprice, continuing through car brands such as the Firebird, the Vega, the Cavalier, the Cobalt and now the Cruze, plus a couple of vans, for Chevy and GMC.

We want to be reporting on the next vehicle, and we hope that fate finds its way to the Valley.

If you hope for the same, find the special poster today and the next two Sundays, and take part in the process.

Todd Franko is editor of The Vindicator. He likes emails about stories and our newspaper. Email him at tfranko@vindy.com. Tweet him, too, at @tfranko.