Tight Time Frame Causes GM Suppliers to Seek Other Sites

By Dan O'Brien LORDSTOWN, Ohio -- Squeezed by the time crunch between now and the launch of General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Cobalt this fall, two suppliers recently awarded contracts for the new vehicle are looking to occupy existing facilities rather than construct new ones in the region.While that's good news for communities such as Austintown -- where the two are considering locating their operations -- it all but rules out the village of Lordstown, where GM's massive manufacturing complex is located.Either way, the Mahoning Valley as a whole is feeling the residual effects of GM's decision to build its new Cobalt here.Automodular Corp., a Canadian supplier awarded a Cobalt contract in March, scouted for a site in Lordstown before considering other locations because of the timing of the launch. "They want to get going as early as May, and it would've been tough to get a building up," says Mayor Mike Chaffee. Austintown is one of the locations the company is considering."We're very disappointed," Chaffee says. "The biggest obstacle was that these contracts weren't awarded until very recently, and we don't have the buildings they need."Chaffee says his village worked hard to put together a strong package of incentives that included county, state and local inducements, and local developers willing to take on the project. "The bottom line is we couldn't compete with time. We feel good about the fact we did everything possible we could given the time frame," he says. Automodular will manufacture radiator, condenser and fan housing components for the Cobalt and has pledged to bring at least 70 jobs to the area. Android Industries, which does similar work for the Lordstown-produced Chevrolet Cavalier, announced last month it would close in October once its contract for the Cavalier expires. The company, which lost a bid on a sequencing contract for the Cobalt, employs about 120.That contract was awarded to Lordstown-based Comprehensive Logistics, who is also considering a location in Austintown. The company needs more space and, sources say, the operation might move to the vacant Tamco warehouse on Victoria Road.In addition to Lordstown and Austintown, development officials in Youngstown were also vying for the project.As Chaffee understands it, Comprehensive Logistics was awarded the sequencing contract in March, and will probably move about 120 employees from Lordstown to the new location. The company would keep 90 to 100 employees at the Lordstown site, which it now leases.Officials for Comprehensive Logistics could not be reached for comment, and precisely how many new jobs would be created as a result of the contract remains unclear.That these suppliers are choosing communities other than Lordstown stings the village, Chaffee adds. The Lordstown plant expects to downsize its work force by more than 1,000 employees through attrition once the Cobalt is launched, thus affecting income tax the village collects. Chaffee says he had hoped more suppliers would locate in Lordstown to make up for the loss in tax revenue and jobs.Still, Chaffee notes that automotive suppliers Intier Automotive and Faurecia Exhaust Systems are in various stages of ramping up their operations here. Faurecia Exhaust has signed a lease to occupy a building originally constructed three years ago for Oakley Industries. The Oakley deal never came about, and the facility sat vacant. Construction on Intier's new plant is proceeding at the Lordstown Industrial Park, Chaffee adds. The company announced last fall it won a contract to provide seat assembly work for the Cobalt and would employ 205 at its new site. The company beat out Lordstown-based Lear Seating for the contract, Chaffee adds. "We're hoping that Lear is going to stay around," he says.Meantime, Intier has signed a lease for a building in Boardman it will occupy until its new facility is ready.In a press release issued April 8, Coldwell Banker Commercial First Place Realty announced Intier has leased 40,000 square feet of warehouse/distribution space at 525 McClurg Road.Contact Dan O'Brien: [email protected]"