Blue Collar Jobs Coming Back to Delaware?
There is finally some serious cause for optimism. Andrew Eder, writing in today’s News-Journal, reports that the Boxwood GM plant is attracting a lot of interest:
Fisker Automotive confirmed Tuesday that it has talked with Delaware officials and toured the Boxwood Road assembly plant, idle since late July when General Motors closed the factory.
The company is developing a next-generation electric car under a program called Project Nina, which will be financed with a $359 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Boxwood Road plant had a maximum capacity of about 250,000 vehicles a year but was producing far fewer in the years before its closing. Fisker Automotive has said it plans to build 75,000 to 100,000 vehicles a year under Project Nina.
The company has also said it plans to export half its vehicles, so the proximity to the Port of Wilmington could be an advantage. And Fisker would have a ready pool of skilled auto workers to choose from in and around Delaware.
I’m really encouraged by the fact that, according to Eder, Alan Levin of the Delaware Economic Development Office, has asked to meet with the UAW’s Sam Lathem. That’s a good sign. And Fisker is not the only interested company. Both the bodacious Tata Company out of India and the Penske Automotive Group have expressed interest, according to Eder.
While the Boxwood plant will likely never employ as many workers as GM did in its heyday, this would be a huge boost to the state’s workforce and to Markell’s plans to make Delaware a green jobs powerhouse. Man, I really hope that this deal gets done.
The fact that Markell and Levin are even planning this puts Jack’s administration about 4,000% more productive than the entire Carper/Minner governorship.
And hey, if the Boxwood Rd plant get snapped up by Fisker, the Chrysler plant in Newark would make for some nice Tatas. Granted, that plant is encumbered by UD.
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OH RLY? They did have the whole Bluewater Wind *thing*… and Carper and Minner kept the auto plants here for almost two decades.
Let’s be fair “Dave M.”
They didn’t “keep them here” anymore than they’re responsible for the sun rising and setting during their terms.
“They did have the whole Bluewater Wind *thing*… ”
You’re kidding, right? Minner didn’t want wind; she, and the party, wanted a new coal plant at Indian River. And Carper is practically a paid shill for the nuclear industry.
I hope it happens, but it will be a complicated deal if it does. If Fisker sticks with the business model that got them this far they will look to GM to assemble as a subcontractor.
The Penske reference is BS:
Penske Backs Out Of Saturn Purchase, GM To Phase Out Brand … Saturn In breaking news today, General Motors has confirmed that plans for the Penske Automotive Group to purchase the Saturn division have been canned. (9/30/09)
http://www.nextautos.com/penske-backs-out-of-saturn-purchase-gm-to-phase-out-brand – Cached – Similar
LG, Newark already has plenty of nice Tatas.
In other news, a preliminary estimate from the Congressional Budget Office projects that the House Democrats’ health care plan that includes a public option would cost $871 billion over 10 years, less than proposal that do not include the option. The report found that including the Public Option would reduce costs and the deficit.
I second lizard’s Penske reference. As a Saturn owner, I would have loved to see the brand survive under Penske… but it seems not to be. The purchase terms from GM would have had Penske purchase the brand only, and find an auto manufacturer to make new Saturns. I am assuming the interest in Boxwood would have been on the manufacturer’s behalf. Since most of the rumored talks about Satrun’s future surrounded Penske bringing Renault into the US market and rebadge their sedans as Saturns… I am quite surprised at the interest in Boxwood.
Fisker to announce location of new plant soon
By KEN THOMAS (AP) – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — California-based Fisker Automotive, a startup manufacturer of luxury electric vehicles, says it will soon announce the location of a manufacturing facility where it will build plug-in electric vehicles.
Henrik Fisker, the company’s co-founder and chief executive, declined to release the site of the retooled plant in the United States on Tuesday. He spoke at an entrepreneurs conference.
Fisker plans to build about 100,000 vehicles a year in the new facility. The $48,000 plug-in currently called Project Nina is expected to reach showrooms by 2012.
Fisker recently received approval for a $528.7 million government loan to develop plug-in hybrid vehicles. The company is expected to release its first vehicle, the Karma, in the summer of 2010.
video of a plant tour from the Solstice production days:
http://www.vodcars.com/fastlanedaily/episode/fld_20090408
Plant Ground Breaking
http://wiki.gmnext.com/wiki/index.php/Wilmington_Assembly_groundbreaking_-_1945
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced an unprecedented designation for polar bear critical habitat on Thursday, setting aside more than 200,000 square miles of Alaska land and sea under the Endangered Species Act.”