The compliments flowed like a waterfall Monday, as city leaders and union officials joined a Chrysler senior manager in praising the automaker’s investment in Kokomo.
The occasion was Monday’s formal city council vote on a 10-year personal property tax abatement on $843 million worth of new equipment slated for the Indiana Transmission Plant complex.
Preceded by weeks of praise in the wake of Chrysler’s Nov. 23 announcement, Monday’s unanimously favorable council vote was almost a foregone conclusion.
But Chrysler executive Leven C. Weiss, senior manager of civic and community relations, came to the meeting with yet another surprise.
In addition to the $843 million investment slated for the ITP complex, Weiss noted that Chrysler committed in May to making a separate $300 million investment for equipment now slated for the Kokomo Transmission Plant.
The KTP investment will establish a new eight-speed, rear-wheel drive transmission line, while Chrysler officials have said the ITP investment will establish a new front-wheel drive transmission line.
Monday, Weiss said the KTP investment is now expected to grow by $85 million.
“Over the years, I’ve made a lot of announcements in a lot of communities. Some were good, some were bad, and some were, well, ugly,” Weiss said.
“This information I’m presenting on behalf of the company falls under the category of ‘great,’” he said.
Mo Davidson, Region 3 director for the United Auto Workers, traveled from Detroit to be present at the announcement.
“This is the best news story in the whole UAW right now, and Kokomo, Indiana, is the best story for manufacturing. Kokomo is the best story for transmission building in the world. You folks should be proud,” Davidson said.
Davidson praised Chrysler for negotiating a settlement to pay local property taxes, saying the company “could have walked away from them.”
“That says a lot about Chrysler,” he said.
And he praised Kokomo’s UAW rank and file members and local union leadership.
Davidson mentioned the GM stamping plant in Indianapolis, now slated for closure after local union leadership rejected concessions.
“It’s easy to be a leader in good times,” Davidson said, praising UAW Local 685 president Rich Boruff. “The people here in Kokomo went through some horrific concessions. They deserve all the credit for what’s happening now.”
Boruff got a little choked up after hearing praise from both Davidson and city Councilman Bob Cameron, D-2nd.
“I’d like to take the time to thank God,” Boruff said. “He’s allowed me to hold the title of president of the greatest local union in this UAW. All of the people, the skilled workers ... we’ve got to take our hats off to them.”
“The workers have the support of this company,” he said. “I couldn’t be prouder, because I’m a Kokomo guy.
“We hit rock bottom. We got down to 3,200 members [at 685]. Now we’re at 4,200. We’ve gained a thousand new members, we’ve got new product, and business is booming,” Boruff said.
Council president Mike Kennedy, D-At Large, thanked Weiss for the company’s latest investment announcement, which brings the company’s total commitment this year to $1.27 billion.
“When Chrysler makes these announcements, I see an uplifting in this community,” Kennedy said. “People who don’t even work at Chrysler, I think they see this investment, and it spurs some hope. You see that people understand we’re making a comeback here.”