Chrysler to air plan Wednesday
Belvidere is expected to get the word on a new vehicle and new jobs.
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By BOB SCHAPER, Rockford Register Star
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BELVIDERE -- Executives from DaimlerChrysler Corp., flanked by state and local politicians, are expected to unveil their
long-awaited plans Wednesday for the future of the Belvidere assembly plant, including a new vehicle line to replace the fading Dodge Neon, the Rockford Register Star has learned.
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The announcement will likely touch off a wave of hiring in Belvidere and the surrounding region as independent
automotive suppliers, now waiting in the wings, formally emerge to provide subassemblies to the 40-year-old factory.
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Adam Tegen, director of planning for Belvidere and Boone County's planning department, said the future announcement would mean a "substantial increase" in employment, both for the assembly plant and the multiple companies that supply the facility.
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"It's a great opportunity for employment," Tegen said. "We're hoping to get additional commercial growth."
Most political leaders and DaimlerChrysler officials have been silent on the subject for months. On Thursday, many claimed they had no knowledge of next week's event. Susan Anderson, Boone County Board chairman, said she could not discuss the matter because she had not been invited.
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"It would be bad manners to talk about any announcement at this point," she said.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is to attend Wednesday's announcement, although Andrew Ross, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development, would only say that Blagojevich was "working very, very closely with (DaimlerChrysler)."
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A similar event at the Belvidere plant had been scheduled for Dec. 13, but was canceled at the last moment by a failed labor contract ratification vote by the 2,200-member United Auto Workers Local 1268, which represents DaimlerChrysler workers. At that time, local leaders had expected the company to announce additional work for the assembly plant lines -- including a compact vehicle to replace the Dodge Neon, slated for phaseout in September.
Talk has also centered on a small-size sport utility vehicle coming to Belvidere.
The potential hiring boon to the Belvidere area is by no means confined to the Neon factory. As reported by the Register Star in December, at least four automotive suppliers -- Collins & Aikman, ArvinMeritor, Grupo Antolin and Android Industries -- are opening along U.S. 20 near the assembly plant, potentially hiring more than 1,000 workers.
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All four companies supply automotive subassemblies -- completed components, such as instrument panels, engines and doors -- for larger assembly plants. Collins & Aikman has been operating its Belvidere plant since Oct. 21; the other three are in various stages of construction.
The growth in subassembly suppliers is part of a national trend in automotive manufacturing, in which components that have traditionally been made inside large-scale assembly plants like Belvidere's are manufactured by outside companies and delivered to the plant just in time for final assembly.
Auburn Hills, Mich.-based DaimlerChrysler is a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG, with headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Worldwide, DaimlerChrysler AG reported 2003 sales of $172 billion.
