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Wauseon plant closing, about 100 jobs will be lost

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Heather Baughman
January 9, 2009

WAUSEON -- About 100 employees of the former Plastech factory here, now Johnson Control Injection Molding, will be permanently losing their jobs in two months.

The factory, where plastic interior parts for U.S. automobiles are manufactured, and its employees are another victim of the spiraling economy and failing automotive industry.

The announcement to close the plant was revealed to Wauseon Mayor Jerry Dehnbostel in a letter he received in the mail Thursday. It said the plant "will be permanently closing March 8, or within 14 days," and "all employees will be terminated on a permanent basis (with) no applicable bumping rights."

Dehnbostel said that in years past, when the plant was owned by Plastech Engineered Products, it had employment "in the 200-range."

With a county unemployment rate estimated at 9.2 percent, Dehnbostel said the plant closure announcement is "one of those things where you're hoping it's not going to happen, but it's not totally unexpected. ... It's really tough. It just goes to tell you that there are no jobs."

Looking to the positive, the mayor said, "Historically, things have always turned around. It's just a matter of how long people can wait to find a new job."




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 7 Total Comments
7.
    Posted by guesswho January 18, 2009
http://www.aflag.com/American_Flags/

fireskyd155...There are quite a few places that make the American flag in the USA. There are USA made items...one just needs to search for them.

6.
    Posted by amk1473 January 14, 2009
My prayers go out to the employees and their families. Hopefully things will get better for everyone soon.

5.
    Posted by jcbrew19 January 13, 2009
**first post** not point

4.
    Posted by jcbrew19 January 13, 2009
maybe i should rephrase what i said. While GM, Ford and Chrysler are shutting down plants in America, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are building in America creating good paying American jobs.
And really, have you checked the window sticker on a new "American" auto lately. tell me what % is actually built here in the USA.
And really, the foreign market do get a lot of their parts from american companies. Like i said, everyone is hurting world wide. we're in a global recession and we'll get out of it. But the foreign big 3 will be a lot better off because they have better people running the company. i don't believe it has anything to do with wages, unions, or benefits. it all starts at the smarts at the top. which leads to my main point of my first point: More education as well as jobs.

3.
    Posted by The Voice of Reason January 12, 2009
Jcbrew19, how about some documentation for your claim that Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are "more made in America than GM, Ford and Chrysler"? The truth of the matter is that, while the foreign manufacturers ASSEMBLE some of their vehicles in this country, the vast majority of the parts, and all of the engineering and design work is done overseas.
I am a professional, and do not belong to a labor union or work in the manufacturing sector. However, anyone with a basic understanding of macroeconomics understands that a service-based economy does not create wealth on a national level. Service providers, whether you are a professional like myself, or a clerk at Starbucks, do nothing to create wealth. On a macroeconomic level, wealth is created when people take raw materials and turn them into finished goods that people want to buy (i.e. manufacturing).
It was our manufacturing prowess that made the U.S. into the world's greatest economic power and allowed us to win two world wars. Unfortunately, we have forgotten what made us great and are literally giving away our manufacturing capability hand over fist. Once we have lost our manufacturing edge, we're in for a painful day of reckoning as a nation, and unless we wake up, it isn't too far off.

2.
    Posted by jcbrew19 January 11, 2009
the "foreign owned companies" you speak of...Toyota, Honda, and Nissan are more made in America than GM, Ford, and Chrysler. heck, Powertrain makes parts for Toyota. give me a break on "Oh, if you don't buy american this is what happens." these companies make parts for the foreign auto makers as well. everyone in general is hurting. World wide. America doesn't just need JOBS. We need better education so we can run our buisnesses better.

1.
    Posted by fireskyd155 January 10, 2009
Well there you have it......another causualty! All the foreign car owners of northwest ohio and all of America, please take note! Go ahead support foreign owned companies.

What can you buy thats made in America anymore? Its SAD.....Look at the job loss this great nation has lost in the last (ten) years. Where are they going? Wake up people!! Heck.. you can't even buy an American flag thats made in the states! God help us all.....Its gonna get even worse! America needs JOBS!!!!!!

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