Brunner Urges State Officials to Embrace Plan for Auto Suppliers
10.07.2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 7, 2009
Contact: David Dettman, Campaign Manager, 614-255-4255
Brunner Urges State Officials to Embrace Plan for Auto Suppliers:
Imminent Layoffs In Toledo Show Why Ohio Must Act Now
COLUMBUS -- U.S. Senate candidate and Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner yesterday urged action on her proposal to shore up Ohio's vital automotive supply chain, saying that announced layoffs at Toledo's Jeep plant show why action is needed now.
In August of this year Secretary Brunner unveiled an urban agenda for Ohio as part of her U.S. Senate campaign, and called for the use of federal stimulus money to launch a loan guarantee fund for auto parts suppliers. She pointed out that today's credit crunch is making it hard for even viable suppliers to get the necessary loans they need to survive.
In the same proposal, Secretary Brunner had urged the use of HUD funds for brownfield cleanup, and this week, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown announced the award of $4.8 million for brownfield cleanup, including $1.8 million to a revolving loan fund in the Ohio Department of Development and $1.9 million to a revolving loan fund for Cuyahoga County cleanup efforts. (See: http://brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press_releases/release/?id=26ac3623-e9e9-4fc5-afa6-bce8d3187758) Lt. Gov. Fisher resigned his position as Director of the Ohio Department of Development in February 2009.
Secretary Brunner expressed concern that the auto parts supply chain loan guarantee proposal, a critical part of her urban agenda proposal, may have fallen on deaf ears. "Imminent layoffs at the Toledo Jeep Assembly complex show why Ohio must immediately address the state's critical auto supply chain's needs," Brunner said today.
Yesterday, in an October 6, 2009 letter to state officials tasked with promoting support of Ohio's key auto industry and the state's economic growth, she noted that the Chrysler Group's Jeep Wrangler plant announced plans for a temporary shut down this week at the Toledo Jeep Assembly complex because of what officials called "a parts shortage from an external supplier." The shutdown will idle about 500 Chrysler workers on two shifts and 500 to 700 supplier workers in the complex.
"I request that you give this loan guarantee proposal your full and immediate consideration," Brunner wrote. "Ohio's automakers and automotive suppliers can no longer afford to wait, nor can their employees and their families."
Secretary Brunner's letter went to Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who heads the Ohio Economic Growth Cabinet, created by executive order of the Governor last fall, and who is also seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate. The letter also went to key officials of the state's Ohio Auto Industry Support Council--Dennis Wojtanowski, President, and a senior advisor to Lt. Gov. Fisher's Senate campaign, and to the Council's co-chairs Eric Burkland, president of the Ohio Manufacturers' Association, and Ken Lortz, director of Ohio's United Auto Workers Region 2B. This council was created in August this year, prior to Brunner's supply chain loan guarantee proposal.
Automotive News is reporting at least 20 U.S. suppliers have filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. courts so far this year. The figure does not include smaller suppliers or companies that have gone out of business without filing for bankruptcy.
State Sen. Teresa Fedor, a Toledo Democrat, said the Jeep assembly complex is vital to northwest Ohio's economy, and she joined Brunner in calling on state officials to immediately address auto suppliers' critical needs.
"The loan guarantee is a viable and necessary plan," Fedor said. "Auto makers can't survive without auto parts. If Ohio does not move quickly, Ohio workers and their families will endure more unnecessary layoffs."
Ohio is America's No. 2 automaker and its No. 2 manufacturer of auto parts.
Rather than treat all suppliers the same, Brunner's plan calls for giving priority to those like the suppliers who have existing orders to supply the Jeep Wrangler plant or to those that will supply newer, more fuel efficient vehicles.
If elected Brunner would become the first woman to hold a U.S. Senate Seat in Ohio. She is currently the Ohio Secretary of State. Brunner became the first woman elected to this office in 2006.