Quote: Ford Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 in Brook Park reopens after about 2 years Posted by kkroll May 18, 2009 17:28PM Lynn Ischay/The Plain DealerDawn Molnar, a worker at Ford Motor Co.'s Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1, demonstrates the equipment she uses to calibrate and repair gauges and test equipment at Ford Motor Co.'s Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 in Brook Park. After a two-year shutdown, Ford plans to celebrate the reopening of the plant Tuesday. Lynn Ischay/The Plain DealerFord Motor Co. worker Tom Montgomery installs parts Monday on the new EcoBoost 3.5-liter V-6 at Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 in Brook Park. After a two-year shutdown, Ford plans to celebrate the reopening of the plant Tuesday. Brook Park -- Dawn Molnar was doing her homework on April 16 when the phone rang. Ford Motor Co. was ready to bring her back to work. "It was the call I had been waiting for every single day for months," said Molnar, 40, a skilled tradeswoman at Cleveland Engine Plant No. 1 in Brook Park. "Every Friday, when that phone didn't ring, I was left heartbroken."
Today, Ford plans to celebrate the reopening of that engine plant, closed for about two years. Molnar and others have been back at work since April, and union officials say they expect to hit 250 workers at the plant by September.
The engine plant wasn't supposed to stay closed this long. The 2007 shutdown was supposed to be for one year, but sales of the vehicles using the engines it produced slumped.
Lynn Ischay/The Plain DealerTom schneider, left, and Robert Lind work on timing chain installation at Ford's engine plant 1 in Brookpark on Monday. Schneider was called back to work in February 2009, Lind returned to work in August of 2008. In the time that the plant has been idle, Ford launched a new technology program called EcoBoost. EcoBoost engines use turbochargers and direct fuel injection to boost performance. The company calls the engines fuel savers because they allow the automaker to use efficient V-6 engines in vehicles that used to need V-8s. In February, the company said it would restart the lines in Brook Park in the spring with its first EcoBoost. The 3.5-liter V-6 will go into several Lincoln vehicles, a hot-rod version of the 2010 Ford Taurus and, eventually, the F-150 pickup.
"We're really excited right now," said Guy Hamilton, building chairman of the plant for the United Auto Workers Local 1250. "It's a big program for us."
Molnar, who had been off the job for six months when she got Ford's call last month, said she became more worried the longer the plant stayed closed.
Before she got laid off, she had finished an apprenticeship program to calibrate and fix gauges and test equipment. But with no engines being built, no one needed to keep the equipment working properly.
Then in March, UAW members agreed to a new contract that, in part, threatened the benefits that Molnar and others depended on.
While laid off, Ford workers get state unemployment insurance and supplemental payments from the automaker that combine to about 72 percent of typical wages. Under the new contract, those benefits expire much faster, so Molnar said she knew the clock was ticking.
"It was very scary. At that point, you have to look at your bills again and figure out what to do," she said.
While on layoff, Molnar was working on finishing her bachelor's degree through an online program with Bowling Green State University. She wanted to return to Ford, but with every week that passed with no phone call, her list of options shrank.
"I never dreamed I was going to be laid off as long as I was," Molnar said. And while she's happy to be back, she said she's more aware of how tough the job market is.
"I love working for Ford and being a member of the Local 1250," Molnar said. "I never want to leave. But getting training, finishing my degree, I should have done that 20 years ago."
I know it's a little hard to read here, so here's the link,, much easier on the eyes
Not belittling GM or Chrysler,, But unlike the Ford Families bust out in Sports,,, they are really running one hell of a car company.. Something the folks at GM and Chrysler can learn from. Thier sales are as far down as the other two (well, close anyway) and yet, they haven't taken a dime of bail out money.. not a freakin dime....
They are really running much like Nissan, Toyota and Honda. They've made cuts to be sure, but haven't resorted to needing bailouts..
Says something about the managment of Ford,,,, doesn't it.
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe." Damanshot
And here is the most important statement of this article (that will go unnoticed because Ford is in the headline): "I love working for Ford and being a member of the Local 1250," Molnar said. "I never want to leave. But getting training, finishing my degree, I should have done that 20 years ago."
What gets me is that we have seen the Automotive Industry struggle, namely the Big 3 for way over 10 years now. Instead of allowing this to control Molnar's destiny, Molnar got off her butt and did something.
No, I don't want to see this industry fail. But I'm hearing too many people complain about losing their job when they should have already transitioned into another. I watched my dad make a decision to uproot our family because his job was slowly going away in Youngstown. It was hard on us but there was always food on the table. I'm sick of the woe is me attitude. I'm sick of the unions having corruptive and crippling control into these companies...that along with the companies' egotistical leadership that thought they couldn't fall is what caused this mess.
We need more people like this person who sees the writing on the wall. No one wants to be worried about their job every quarter. No one wants to weather rumors over and over...go get something else even if it is somewhere else. We need more of that mentality in this economy to really 'bail out' the country.
I know one thing for sure, I will have a real hard time ever justifying buying a GM or Chrysler product over a Ford from this point forward. I have a 2007 Ford Fusion I purchased new. I love that car and I usually get over 30 miles to the gallon on it with combined city and highway miles.
You bought it because it's what they run in NASCAR,....
Just kidding. This is great news for the Cleveland area. I would wish the same for Lordstown, if for only that they're GM.
I experimented with drugs only once in my lifetime, buying an Oldsmobile (?) that looked like a Nova (can't remember the model name,....)
Will get divorced before ever allowing the wife to buy anything but a Ford.
Have had 'em all,...Torino, Galaxie, Falcon, Fairlane, Pinto, Maverick, Cougar, Ranger (3 times), LTD, Taurus (Sedans and Wagon), Escort, Aspire, F150, F250,....never had a Mustang,....(yet)
I have a great respect for this company (Ford). They did it right and the others should learn from them business-wise. I WILL be buying a Mustang very soon...
The new Camaro is a nice looking ride, but I think the timing is bad, and could ultimately hurt sales. Not to mention the people most willing to buy a muscle car right now are enthusiasts, who are going to want the big V8, at a whopping 40k, that could leave even some of them on the sidelines.
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
Quote: The new Camaro is a nice looking ride, but I think the timing is bad, and could ultimately hurt sales.
I agree ... the American car manu's seem to be nortorious for releasing the wrong kind of cars into certain markets. I've always wondered what the design lifetime of a car is. Like for printers, it takes around a year to design a new printer, make the hardware prototypes for it, write the firmware for it, test it, and put it into production. If it's only a year for cars, you have to be wondering what these companies are thinking at times.
Just look at Dodge ... the last 4 years or so has seen gas prices shoot up to almost $5 a gallon at some points, and Hybrids and economy cars have become the in-thing because of it. So what lineup does Dodge throw out last year? Big trucks and muscle cars. Their most fuel efficient car was the Caliber, which gets something like 27 mpg, and is the worst fuel efficient "small-sedan" sized car in the market.
Quote: the last 4 years or so has seen gas prices shoot up to almost $5 a gallon at some points, and Hybrids and economy cars have become the in-thing because of it.
Not around here. We can't give the econo-boxes away, and we are selling more trucks and SUV's than cars.
Quote: The new Camaro is a nice looking ride, but I think the timing is bad, and could ultimately hurt sales. Not to mention the people most willing to buy a muscle car right now are enthusiasts, who are going to want the big V8, at a whopping 40k, that could leave even some of them on the sidelines.
Enthusiasts We have a ton of people (men and woman) in their 50's and older looking at the Camaro's. Our problem is that we can't get the Camero's from GM that people are wanting to buy. We have a waiting list.
Quote: I've always wondered what the design lifetime of a car is. Like for printers, it takes around a year to design a new printer, make the hardware prototypes for it, write the firmware for it, test it, and put it into production. If it's only a year for cars, you have to be wondering what these companies are thinking at times.
Somebody with more first hand knowledge may know better, but I thought I read that from concept to production on a car was something along the lines of 7 years. I assume that to mean for an entirely new car... I would guess that to take an '07 Malibu and tweak it into an '08 Malibu takes much less time.
Quote: The new Camaro is a nice looking ride, but I think the timing is bad, and could ultimately hurt sales. Not to mention the people most willing to buy a muscle car right now are enthusiasts, who are going to want the big V8, at a whopping 40k, that could leave even some of them on the sidelines.
Enthusiasts We have a ton of people (men and woman) in their 50's and older looking at the Camaro's. Our problem is that we can't get the Camero's from GM that people are wanting to buy. We have a waiting list.
I agree with you about the 50+ crowd. But not much keeps them from buying what they want. What's the average age of a Vette owner. Judging from what I see around here, I'd say like 100.
GM I'm sure you know the bread and butter of the Camaro will be the base V6 model, sold to the everyday joe that just likes the style of the car. Problem is, the majority of that demographic just doesn't have the resources in the current economy.
Or is the media over exaggerating the dramatic drop off in auto sales?
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
I love that car along with the Challenger. I am a big fan of the muscle cars, especially from the 60's and 70's....That's when the American automaker was KING IMO.....
granted I own a late model GTO, which is big in it's own right at 3800 lbs, but hey a corvette owner can never carry 3 passengers as he rips through the gears and hearing 6000 revolutions a minute of pure LS2 flowing through the Flowmasters....
Aside from the C6 at the low 3200 pound range, detroit muscle these days is anywhere from 3400-4400 lbs... thats alot of metal to move and really takes alot of the flair of having 400+ hp in my book.
Ive been cataloguing for a while on buying a rat rod for the strip and open racing, dont wanna ding up the goat now that pontiac is going to car heaven. By rat rod I mean a late 80s Vette or Firebird, something for under 5 grand and i wont have to dump $10k just to make it work.... You upgrade to an LS2 w/ tubular support members in a trans am and your down to the 3000-31000 lb range. thats more like it to me! I might need to grow a handlebar mustache but it would be a spotty weekend cruiser with mostly track use :P
Good to hear this. My wife grew up in Brookprk and her dad is till there. This is geat for that little sunurn of Cleveland. Know a few people who work there and also,even though they have been there for years and were not effected by this plants original closing, it takes some pressure off their shoulders.Brookpark is a huge facility that is actually two separate engine plants, when this one closed all the long timers who chose to stay went to the other plant. Now though they do not have to worry about if they are next.
KING
You may be in the drivers seat but God is holding the map. #GMSTRONG
It was the omega. We better pray the Lordstown doesn't close. If they do we down here are completely screwed. No way the Valley could survive losing the plant and all the smaller businesses that support it.
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We have a ton of people (men and woman) in their 50's and older looking at the Camaro's. Our problem is that we can't get the Camero's from GM that people are wanting to buy. We have a waiting list.
