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* Man, Gov. Quinn really needs this boost…
Ford Motor Co. plans to add 1,200 jobs when it begins making the Explorer sport-utility vehicle at its Far South Side factory on Torrence Avenue later this year, Crain’s has learned.
Gov. Pat Quinn is due to join Ford executives when they announce the Explorer production at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the plant near 130th Street. Plans to bring the Explorer from Louisville, Ky., to the under-utilized Chicago plant were first reported by Crain’s nearly a year ago. The move was helped by recent tax credits approved by Mr. Quinn.
Adding the Explorer probably will mean bringing a second shift back to the Torrence Avenue plant, which has been down to one shift for the past year. The factory now employs about 1,400 workers.
More from the AP…
The company and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn are scheduled to make the announcement on Tuesday at the factory.
Quinn told reporters in Chicago on Monday that an unspecified company would be announcing 1,200 new jobs in Illinois.
The person briefed on the announcement says some of the workers will be from Ford’s pool of employees laid off at other factories. The person did not want to be identified because the announcement has not been made.
At Ford, the current truck-based Explorer, which provided billions in profits for the company as the top-selling SUV for a decade in the 1990s, will change fundamentally when its revamped version debuts by the end of the year. The new Explorer, which hasn’t been publicly unveiled, will be designed on the same underpinnings as a Ford car.
The news of hiring at Ford comes only days before the company will report its fourth-quarter earnings. Some Wall Street analysts now expect that the Dearborn, Mich., company could be profitable in the quarter and report a full-year profit, including special items, when earnings are released Thursday. Ford lost $30 billion between 2006 and 2008.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 3:53 pm
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great news for our hard working governor.
Comment by quinn fan Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 3:57 pm
This is good news for all of us in Illinois. More please.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:01 pm
Too late for a commercial? Alexi has been pouring millions into ads that he saved 600 jobs (did he really? look into it, plenty have been laid off from Hartmarx since his big save), but Quinn “created” 1200 new manufacturing jobs for IL at a time when manufacturing is all but disappearing from our country.
Comment by Niles Township Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:02 pm
Don’t know it’s Ford or Quinn who deserves the kudos but it’s wonderful news that some well paying jobs are on the way. Interesting, too, that Ford is the American auto company the government DIDN’T take over.
Comment by Responsa Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:03 pm
Responsa, in this climate, it doesn’t really matter. PQ is the guv at a time when manufacturing jobs are being restored and created. That’s fantastic news no matter how you cut it and he will certainly bask in the glow. It’s also huge news, and it comes at a very crucial moment for him. He’s fading. This might help. He does need an ad, tho.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:07 pm
If Quinn gets a soundbite from Ford execs at the press conference crediting him with bringing the jobs to IL, he should kiss whoever it is full on the lips right then and there.
Comment by Montrose Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:13 pm
“Interesting, too, that Ford is the American auto company the government DIDN’T take over.”
Your implication seems to be that Ford is doing better because the government didn’t bail them out.
Chicken/egg. The government didn’t need to bail Ford out because it was doing better.
Comment by JonShibleyFan Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:18 pm
Great news for that part of the south side!
Comment by Levois Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:23 pm
JonShibleyFan, I doubt that Rich wants this thread to devolve into a discussion of the auto bailouts. That said, Ford was losing business at a rapid clip from 2006-2008 and have turned it around this year. A number of business publications have suggested that Ford’s stronger sales are a result of car buyers’ higher confidence that Ford and Ford products will be around longer, and also that they prefer to do business with an independent car company.
Comment by Responsa Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:30 pm
As the son and grandson of men who worked at that plant…
Cool
Comment by OneMan Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:33 pm
Wow, even Rich couldn’t find a negative spin for this one.
Comment by Sox Fan19 Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:56 pm
Scotty, get us a couple of those new Explorers right away. Black, big rims, DVD. I’ve done my time in this chessebox Escape Hybrid.
Comment by Alexi Giannoulias Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 4:59 pm
That is good news.
The Torrence Plant is a landmark.
It is producing the new Taurus, right?
Well, having the next Explorer based on it will be a good improvement.
American cars, manufactured by an American car company, made by Americans, in America.
I prefer it that way. As to foreign cars made in the US claiming that they are also “American”, that’s nuts!
You didn’t hear anyone refer to antebellum cotton plantations as black-owned, because the slaves picked the cotton, did you?
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 5:00 pm
Too bad they’re not making Crown Victorias there, given how many of Illinois state and local elected officials end up in the back of one as the coup de grace of their careers.
Comment by Kyle Boller's Clipboard Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 5:12 pm
I don’t care who grabs the credit — new manufacturing jobs in “the Chicagoland area” are most welcome to see. And especially on the Far South Side, which could use some good economic news.
Comment by Boone Logan Square Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 5:57 pm
EDGE Tax Credit. Plain and Simple. Quinn thought of it, pushed it, and signed it. And now we have 1200 more jobs.
Comment by #43 Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 6:31 pm
Responsa, Ford set up a $23 billion line of credit in 2006 when credit was available.
They benefited from Cash for Clunkers programs in the US and Germany (no, we weren’t the only ones), and tried to get Canada to follow suit.
And, perhaps most importantly, they’ve shed a lot of dead weight and are making good cars. The stuff about people preferring them b/c they eschewed the auto bailout - good marketing, but not evidenced in sales.
Hey, this is all good news for Illinois at a time when we really need good news.
Comment by JonShibleyFan Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 8:27 pm
when I think of Boeing relocating to Illinois, I think of Mayor Daley and Governor Ryan working to bring Boeing to Illinois. As I have read the various news reports on this 1200 jobs, I don’t see a parallel here for Quinn.
I’m sure he will take undue credit, he’s desperate due to the primary but I hope Ford executives and the media don’t allow themselves to be manipulated by Quinn to further his political ends.
Comment by Will County Woman Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 9:14 pm
==EDGE Tax Credit. Plain and Simple. Quinn thought of it, pushed it, and signed it. And now we have 1200 more jobs. ==
Actually, the EDGE credit was created by Ryan. And it costs the state 3% of the wages of each new employee for 10 years or so.
And who knows how much else the deal with Ford is costing or whether Ford would have located here even without the giveaways? These are important questions that will never be answered.
Comment by Justme Monday, Jan 25, 10 @ 9:28 pm