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Illinois in running

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Illinois

The governor could obviously use a major win like this.

Add Illinois to the list of Midwestern states trying to land a new $400 million Honda automobile plant.

A spokesman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s economic development agency confirmed Monday that the governor met with company officials recently about bringing the plant here.

“Governor Blagojevich certainly believes that Illinois has all of the assets to make this project a tremendous success, that the business climate here encourages both innovation and investment,” said Andrew Ross, spokesman for the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. “He is willing to continue working closely with Honda to bring this new project and these new jobs to Illinois.”

Officials in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan also have pushed for the plant, which is expected to be built by 2008 and provide 1,500 jobs making 200,000 vehicles a year. Honda is expected to announce its decision later this summer but has not identified potential sites.

Landing the Honda plant would go a long way to dispelling accusations that he has ruined the state’s business climate. If it goes elsewhere, however….

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 5:36 am

Comments

this governor will try his best to get honda here in ill. Only one thing wrong if he gets it done. JBT, will say it was another back door deal, and if he doesnt get it done she say, what i tell you hes driving big companys away from ill. go get them governor, show jbt how real back door deals work.

Comment by taxs man Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 5:58 am
BRING IT ON!!!

A Honda plant in Illinois, however, will not erase all the negatives regarding that idiot governor and his ultra-corrupt admistration.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 6:23 am
Wait..wait…wait…I thought foreigners STOLE Illinois jobs?

And to be a fly on the wall at the meeting where the governor meets the Honda executives….I hope the governor saves something for the second date. (unlike Mayor Daley did with Boeing, who has since de-emphasised its Chicago ‘headquarters’)

Comment by Leroy Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 6:26 am
And btw…perhaps someone knows this -

Why is Honda bucking the trend and building their plant in the midwest? I thought all the foreign companies will building plants in the south, where the unions weren’t as prevalent, and cost of doing business was less? Didn’t BMW and Toyota set up shop in Alabama?

Comment by Leroy Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 6:32 am
Leroy -

As you correctly noted, the South is doing very well drawing manufacturing plants. But governors of the the rust belt states will give away everything including their Dept. of Revenue to get that plant in their state. I wonder how many billions of dollars the Democrats in charge in this state will borrow to be thrown at Honda.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 7:34 am
Is Honda a Union Company? If not, they will not come to Illinois.

Also, patching something up after you break it doesn’t give you redemption.

Comment by moderate - half way between crazy and crazy. Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 8:31 am
Honda has a plant in OH already. If the plant comes here, JBT will shut up. Sometimes, people don’t always need to talk. JBT needs to congratulate (at least the people of IL for having the skills to attract Honda) and leave the gov out of his if it is a well done deal. BUT!

Will this be another giveaway like Boeing?

Comment by Wumpus Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 8:44 am
Moderate-

Honda is a non union company and they have publicly stated that, good or bad. If Illinois were to land this plant it would be great but the cost would be tremendous in incentives. We’ll hear both sides of that argument. I’m no economic expert but you can’t give away the farm on deals like this. Three things hurt our chances; a huge unfunded pension that businesses think they will someday have to pay off, one of the most regressive property tax systems in the nation, and a very high worker’s comp rate when compared to other midwest states. Democrats should be not only working hard to land this plant, they should also be doing something serious about worker’s comp, property taxes and the pension if they really want to land new industry.

Comment by Paul Powell Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 8:45 am
The time is here for Rod to make good. It is time to walk the talk. Love or hate him, it is projects like Honda that govenors have to make good on. He earned/BSed/lucked into (you pick) his way to the office and landing these types of projects is part of the job. It can cover a ton of bad PR. Trouble is Honda will squeeze like hell and want facts/plans/promises which are areas Rod seems to have trouble with. Would Honda follow through on their side of the deal in the long run? Who knows? Gotta get the deal first. They can always go elsewhere. Success or failure of Honda would make a strong campaign poster for someone.

Comment by zatoichi Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 8:50 am
But if all these states are offering Honda money to locate there, why would Honda choose Illinois, with its heavy pro-union bias, over any others.

Given the lack of financial sophistication obvious in Blago’s handling of the lottery proposal, I would not be optimistic that any deal with Honda would be beneficial to Illinois taxpayers. Honda corporate is no doubt a meritocracy and a meritocracy could eat clueless Blago and his advisors for lunch. Blago vs Honda would be a comedy sketch except for the additional taxes a deal would cost us.

Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 8:53 am
Illinois is just being used as a stalking horse here to get better incentives from Indiana and/or Ohio. Hence, the late entry into this sweepstakes. Michigan was never really in play, and Honda needed a stalking horse. Honda already has a presence in Ohio. Why would they come to IL?

Comment by Niles Township Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 9:06 am
Illinois is too far behind the game to get in the Honda Derby. Ohio and Indiana (where Honda and Toyota have plants) already have IDd specific sites for their pitch. This story broke months ago, and Gov. is just now meeting with the company?
Diamond-Star in Bloomington/Normal was widely viewed as giving away the store, as well as taking out over 3,000 acres of prime farmground.
Honda is NOT coming to Illinois, unless Gov. sells the lottery to pay the incentives. Oh wait…

Comment by Paul Simon Museum Guy Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 9:10 am
This goes in the same file as the St. Louis Cardinals building a stadium in Illinois. Their execs met with the Illinois gov too. What a show.
And how’s that Diamond-Star plant doing in the twin cities?

Comment by anon Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 9:18 am
The location that Honda is considering is in Champaign County, according to my sources.

Comment by Gordy Hulten Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 9:23 am
Honda? Lets all pretend that they are an American company! They let us build most of the content for the cars they design! So, that means they are domestic right? Most of the money they earn, the value added content they put in, and the company stays right here - right?

If you are so excited over Honda coming in, then you will be even more excited when its time for harvest, so you can pick the crops!

Go ahead, keep driving US automakers out of business and wonder what happened to our standard of living.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 9:23 am
One only has to look at Princeton, Indiana, to see the impact of a non-union auto plant. The Toyota plant there is booming and people are making $30+ an hour with benefits. They draw workers from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and, as I’ve heard, Ohio. The impact it has had on the Indiana mood and economy is incredible. We NEED this plant to stop our reputation from further being sullied. When is the next time that a major plant option like this will come around?

Comment by Team Sleep Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 9:32 am
Well Mr. Vanillaman, When American car companies finally decided to mke decent cars, people’s minds were already operating under the perception that US cars were junk. Now it is hard for folks to get that out of their heads. I still now people who work at a GM plant in OH who will tell you not to buy a Cavalier.

Perhaps I should buy a “US Car” that happens to be made in Mexico vs a Japanes Car that happens to be made in the US. The US car makers are doing afine job driving themselves out of business, don’t blame the consumer.

Comment by Wumpus Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 9:51 am
It will never happen Blago has set this state up as a welfare state and the people at Honda are not going to pay for his free everything.Don’t believe it go to Herrin and that will show you how idustrial unfriendly this state is.

Comment by DOWNSTATE Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 10:00 am
This might be an unfortunate win for him because I still think that Blago has been a lousy governor. If this outweighs that, it will be a bigger loss than losing this plant.

Comment by Levois Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 10:04 am
This is another Blago farce. The bowl of goodies which would have to be delivered goes wll outside of the Governor and the legislature’s ability to give.

Unless, of course they raise taxes on the rest of us.

Why the rust belt? Well, in Indiana they have the most modern cold rolled steel facility in the United States. Mittal, just west of South Bend in St. Joseph County delivers through a single continuous stream, cold rolled steel, high quality edge to edge at constant thickness. Cost a cool billion to build both the rolling plant and the galvanizing lines twenty years ago. Built jointly by Nippon Steel and Inland Steel — the last is now Mittal, foreign owned by smart Indians. Used to take fourteen days, now takes twelve hours.

Location is important given that the rolls go over the road at x dollars per mile.

The key is supplier location. Honda assembles. The Japanese have always let others build the fenders, bumpers, etc. Less capital investment.
They rely on just in time delivery — less work in process inventory. Danville would be a better location than Champaign.

Meanwhile, in Illinois, steel plants have gone cold.

Comment by Truthful James Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 10:42 am
plant will not come to illinios. jbt will use this as further evidence the unfriendly confines of illinois is chasing and keeping good paying quality jobs from moving to illinois. whichever republican leeked this story will be doing jbt a big favor.

Comment by ron Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 10:52 am
My guess is, factoring in the labor situation, and due to shipping and transportation access, I would expect them to go for Georgia, close to the ports.

If you watch Illinois Channel, there was a presentation the other day from a seminar given about a month back, the stats on Illinois’ heavy manufacturing jobs are alarming. All the manufacturing is down, the service industries are up a bit, but not enough to replace a traditional “man bending steel” kind of job. In the service sector most jobs are muchlower wage and no benefits, the top paying jobs are I.T. work, and those are the easiest to lose to outsourcing and offshoring.

The labor situation in Illinois aside, heavy industry now has a lot more to deal with in terms of environmental rules, safety rules, etc. and since their natural desire is to avoid as much regulation as possible, they will likely not put a plant here, if they can get some conservative repubican controlled southern state to roll over and give them what they want. Heck, they could pick any spot on the Gulf Coast and get it cheap after Katrina, and be called heroes for helping rebuild down there, bringing back jobs, etc etc.
All the time the real issues are: low regulation, non-union labor, cheap post-Katrina land, access to modern ports.

Comment by Gregor Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 11:08 am
[…] Today, Rich Miller points to this: Ross said Honda is looking at a specific site in Illinois but would not disclose it. He also said the company has not asked about state incentives and tax credits but said the governor is ready to meet again with Honda officials. […]

Pingback by IlliniPundit.com » Blog Archive » Honda Considering Champaign & Vermilion Counties Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 11:14 am
They know it won’t come here but their press release shows how hard he is trying.Just like when he put it to Rev.Meeks on the lottery sale.One more Blago headline.

Comment by DOWNSTATE Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 11:33 am
The Gov did promise to create 50,000 new jobs when he ran in 2002. I just didn’t realize he would create them in the surrounding states.

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 11:40 am
Anon - Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 11:40 am:

The Gov did promise to create 50,000 new jobs when he ran in 2002. I just didnâ€™t realize he would create them in the surrounding states.

Details details!

Comment by Wumpus Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 11:55 am
Just watch if we do get this company: Rod will have to give them a huge tax incentive (a.k.a. corporte loop-hole).

I’ve never understood why tax incentives help the Hollywood industry create jobs, but yet they are corporate loop holes for the other industries.

Comment by Mad at Mikey Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 12:07 pm
I’m all for it. It will not be a cure all, as B-N has found with the Diamond Star plant, but every little bit helps.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 12:38 pm
I’ve never seen so many say so little about something they know nothing about…how depressing.

Comment by Dog Eat Dog World Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 3:24 pm
Ah, yes, Job Creation

What a great issue. From the US Dept. of Labor

Job Creation 1/03 - 5/05

Illinois 7,100
Missouri 26,100
Iowa 26,800
Kentucky 32,100
Wisconsin 50,900
Indiana 56,800

I think the Governor is a wee bit short — of his promises.

BTW, if you noticed, all the smoke and mirrors about Honda is coming from the Governor’s horde of experts, not from Honda. Hmm

Take a look at workman’s comp and at unemployment insurance rates. Illinois is no paradise for new business.

If they were going to export the cars rather than redistribute them in the United States, the usual path for illinois would be to barge them down to New Orleans (the opposite path from the imported units, until Katrina.

Comment by Truthful James Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 3:41 pm
Very doubtful for IL for many of the reasons already stated. Indiana-possible; Kentucky/Tennessee-likely; other Southern states-probable. DCEO and the Gov’s office got involved in the 11th hour after this opportunity was reported in the press. They were reactive.

Comment by Wile Coyote Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 4:40 pm
Honda’s not coming here. Puhleeze. It’s simply Governor Doofus trying once again to save his bacon.

Anyone who thinks a major automaker would build ANTHING in this state’s unfriendly business climate needs to extract his head from his butt.

Comment by Southern Illinoisian Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 4:45 pm
The Blago PR machine looks for anything popular, then tries to stick to it like a remora and “brand it” for Blago. DCEO should have been working on recruiting heavy industry, among other things, since day one of the new administration, but instead, they have spent most of their time cooking up fake statistics as excuses and making PR speeches in support of the governor’s campaigns.

I am of the school of thought that the best campaigning in government is to go out and DO actual stuff you can then point to, but these guys only go as far as proposals and press releases, nothing concrete. If some company brings on a new plant, they come in afterwards and say: “Yep, we were part of that”. As if. If Honda is thinking about a new plant, Blago’s people will be all”oh, we’re very much on the inside track, we’ve been ‘working’ with them for some time…”

“Working with” = Wish we’d have thought to contact them sooner, we didn’t do diddly and have no chance but are ready to blame something or someone else when no deal comes thru… but in the meantime, we’ll act to all intents and purposes that this is a total lock for us.

You know… like they’ve done with every aspect of governing so far.

“we’re working with”… means nothing or less than nothing, it’s completely neuter and non-committal. Along with “We’re exploring”. All just weasel words from that administration.

Comment by Gregor Tuesday, Jun 6, 06 @ 11:26 pm