HONDA has a new Home

Honda unveiled new banners Tuesday and, to the extreme pleasure of area residents, they have Greensburg’s famous courthouse tree emblazoned on them.

Honda made its official announcement, selecting Decatur County as its new home, exclusively to the Greensburg Daily News.

The plant will be more than 1 million square feet, cost $550 million to construct and employ 2,000 people. These numbers, straight from Honda, are larger than any bandied about to this point.

In addition, Honda’s upcoming presence will speed up making the I-74 and U.S. 421 interchange go in both directions as the plant will sit on a 1,700-acre tract on 421 between Vandalia Road and the Interstate.

“I grew up in Coldwater, Ohio, a small town not far from the Indiana border. Honestly, when I first came to Decatur County to survey our new plant site and get a feel for the community, I thought that if I closed my eyes and opened them again I might be back home,” Larry Jutte, senior vice president of parts and procurement for Honda of America Manufacturing Inc., is expected to say this morning in a speech made available to the Daily News. “Of course, that was before I saw the tree growing out of the top of the county courthouse. Then, I knew I was in a unique place.”

Jutte and other Honda executives will be at the Greensburg Community Learning Center at 10:30 a.m. to tell the world of their choice. A group of nearly 40 Honda employees and what can only be described as a stage crew swept into the city and took over the Center in preparation for the meeting. They worked through the night to set up for the press conference.

Jutte is also expected to discuss a bit about Honda’s search for a new home but won’t discuss specifics.

“Over the past several months, we never acknowledged any of the locations that we considered, and we don’t intend to do so today because we never looked at this as a competition,” Jutte said. “The state borders were not a defining line. From a manufacturing perspective, we were looking for the optimal location from a logistical standpoint. We looked at a number of sites in the Midwest. Importantly, we have production operations and parts suppliers encompassing a number of states throughout the Midwest. This plant will fit very well in what is an efficient, effective and seamless network.”

Jutte also pointed out, while the plant can only be in one place, the impact will be far reaching.

“There will be a substantial positive impact from this plant of almost $1.5 billion annually throughout the Midwest region, including those states we were considering,” he said.

The plant is expected to be fully-operational and have the first vehicle roll off the assembly line in the fall of 2008. Honda expects to make 200,000 four-cylinder vehicles annually. The major operations of the facility will include; stamping, welding, painting, plastic injection molding, sub-assembly and assembly, testing, quality assurance and shipping.

“The business of building automobiles is special, unlike any other,” Jutte will say. “Here in Indiana, some 2,000 people will touch each vehicle before it reaches the customer. Think about that. With a great deal of energy and enthusiasm, and working as a team, we will ensure our quality meets the expectations of our customers. And through this teamwork with this community, we will have success. This can be fun and rewarding when you have the kind of teamwork we try to achieve.”