CHICAGO | On Nov. 3, when Ford's Chicago Assembly Plant eliminates one production shift and 600 workers or more, the workers at the plant's supplier park also will feel the pain.
"We represent 800 workers, down from 1,500," said Roosevelt Williams, president of United Auto Workers Local 3212, which represents the supplier park's hourly workers. "On Nov. 3, our number will go down again."
When the Ford Chicago Manufacturing Campus opened in 2004, its backers -- including the city, state, developers and Ford -- all said it would generate 800 new jobs or more in addition to about 600 other workers moving there from nearby locations.
But since its opening, Ford's sales have dropped, vehicle production is down and the need for the products its suppliers has diminished, Williams said.
"We've been laid off more than we've worked this year," Williams said.
About half of the supplier park's workers live in Illinois and the other half reside in Indiana, he said.
The park was developed as a joint venture between CenterPoint Properties Trust and Ford Motor Land Development Corp. in conjunction with the more than $400 million retooling of the nearby Ford Chicago Assembly Plant.
The park is now managed by RREEF, an Oak Brook-based real estate investment company. Its building occupies a 155-acre former brownfield east of the 126th Street and Torrence Avenue assembly plant. The site once was the home of Republic Steel Corp.
The project, pegged at $250 million by Business Week in 2004, was funded with the aid of $11 million in tax increment financing from the City of Chicago and a $4.8 million grant for site work from the State of Illinois economic development arm.
The Illinois Department of Economic Opportunity gave several of the suppliers almost $11.8 million in Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credits over a 10-year period.
Kim Hill, director of the Center for Automotive Research Automotive Communities Program, said the impact of dropping Ford sales has a concentrated affect on the supplier campus.
"When a model falls out of favor, it (usually) affects a 300-mile radius," Hill said. "When you concentrate them in a smaller area, it creates a bigger hit."
Chicago 10th Ward Alderman John Pope, who's ward includes both the Ford assembly plant and its manufacturing campus, didn't return calls for comment.
In 2005, Jorge Perez, who was then executive director of the Calumet Area Industrial Commission, said Ford Motor Co. and its local suppliers serve as a "bellwether" for the area's economy.
"Ford and its supplier are key indicators in our area," Perez said three years ago. "If they lay off people, we'll see the trickle down effect with other employers doing the same thing."
