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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."

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The new Camaro is a nice looking ride, but I think the timing is bad, and could ultimately hurt sales.

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The new Camaro is a nice looking ride, but I think the timing is bad, and could ultimately hurt sales.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?