By MIKE LEWIS, Times-Mail
mikel@tmnews.com
BEDFORD - By next spring, more than 600 more jobs will be eliminated in Bedford.
Visteon Corp. confirmed Friday it had "tentatively concluded" to close its Bedford plant. The factory employs about 685 people - roughly 600 hourly and 85 salaried workers - who make auto parts.
Managers met with employees in groups Friday to break the news.
"We will be discussing the decision and the effects with the union," said Jim Fisher, Visteon's director of corporate communications. "We are targeting April 2008 for the closure. We did not discuss any timetable leading up to that.
"This has nothing to do with the work force. It has more to do with the product line." Visteon officials and employees have been talking about the move for months. The company has decided to focus on three core areas - climate control, interiors and electronics, including lighting. The items made at its Bedford factory, chiefly fuel-delivery modules for Ford Motor Co., do not fit into that future, Fisher said.
Reaction was mixed.
"It was highly emotional over there (Friday)," said Sophia Frazier of Heltonville, who has worked at Visteon a dozen years. "People were crying and wondering how to make their house payments."
But Frazier and others said they were not surprised at the announcement.
"In my opinion, it wasn't new news," said Chris Taylor, a shop steward for Local 907, International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers and Communication Workers of America (IUE-CWA). "We didn't feel like we had a contract past April (when the current agreement expires), and now that's just confirmed. ... We've known about this since 2004 (when the current contract started)."
Some employees, he said, feel better to having a clearer picture of the future.
"I feel like it's kind of a weight off our backs," said Taylor, who has worked about 10 years at the plant.
Another blow
The news dealt another economic blow to Lawrence County, which for years has had one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. Production at the Dana Corp. plant - another factory linked to the auto industry - ceased earlier this year. Dana employed as many as 700 people in 2000.
"The announcement was certainly no shock, but was still very, very disappointing just the same," said Gene McCracken, executive director of the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council. "We had hoped that possibly a new type of production work could be established and therefore maybe save jobs and the facility for Indiana. This announcement, that so closely follows the demise of Dana Corp. in Mitchell, certainly makes the statement that no job in the automotive industry is secure. It also does not diminish our hopes that new opportunities can be made available to these displaced workers.
"I know that the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the lieutenant governor and the governor as well, along with us (the Lawrence County Economic Growth Council), all worked hard behind the scenes to keep the facility open and operating within our state. But, the dreaded announcement has been made, and we will work on a daily basis to help in any way we can the current workforce as their unemployment occurs over the months that lie ahead," McCracken said.
"I am sure there will be training grants and other similar opportunities made available by Visteon and the state that will hopefully lessen this shocking impact upon the Visteon work force."
Company statement
Visteon officials issued a prepared statement Friday afternoon.
"Employees at the Bedford plant have known for some time that the products made there are not part of Visteon's core businesses of climate control, interiors, electronics and lighting," John McLoughlin, Visteon manufacturing director, said in that formal statement. "As plans are finalized to re-source those products, we do not believe there is a viable business case to continue operating the plant.
"Visteon is committed to taking necessary action as part of our ongoing effort to restructure our business and improve our operations in a challenging market environment," McLoughlin said. "We are proud of the Bedford work force and recognize the impact of this decision on our employees, the union, and the local community, with whom we have a positive relationship."
The company will work with union officials concerning the details of the closing, Fisher said.
Taylor said workers were told to expect a gradual reduction of jobs at the facility.
"They didn't give us numbers," he said. "They just said it would happen gradually."
Future layoffs could happen in August or September, employees were told.
Just last month Visteon workers learned some of the Bedford plant's business was being transferred to another company.
In a letter to employees, Scott Barnes, plant manager, wrote that a good part of the plant's business would be transferred to Delphi Corp., another auto-parts maker.
In a piece written for The Pioneer, the plant newsletter, Barnes wrote that Delphi was gathering information to take over the production of fuel-delivery modules. Making those modules is a large part of Visteon's business in Bedford.
Many companies are struggling in the sagging domestic auto market. Visteon is a chief supplier for Ford, which continues to report losses.