“Magna awarded $40 million in stimulus funds - Star-Press” plus 4 more |
- Magna awarded $40 million in stimulus funds - Star-Press
- North Dakota RV Sales Up - KFYR-TV
- BAKER CURB RACING-27-NNS - Rotoworld.com
- Fleetwood RV, Inc. Launches New Consumer Website - The Auto Chanel
- Hard-hit Ind. town struggling to make a comeback - WSVN-TV
| Magna awarded $40 million in stimulus funds - Star-Press Posted: 06 Aug 2009 12:13 PM PDT MUNCIE -- A company with a southwestside Muncie plant will receive $40 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds meant to boost the development of electric cars. Magna E-Car Systems -- part of Magna International, which opened its Magna Power Train plant on Cowan Road in Muncie in 2006 -- will get $40 million, although the White House announcement specified the money was for Magna in Muncie and Holly, Mich. The good news for Magna came as part of President Barack Obama's announcement of $2.4 billion in stimulus funding for batteries and electric vehicles. Obama spoke Wednesday in economically hard-hit Elkhart County in northern Indiana, and the Hoosier state will receive more than $400 million in funding. Magna E-Car Systems will receive funding for "increasing production capacity of advanced automotive electric drive system component manufacturing plants." Magna deferred questions about what the funding would mean for the local plant and whether it might generate new jobs. "At this point, it would be too premature to comment on potential job creation and/or any other related details," Magna spokesman Tracy Fuerst said. But news that federal funds would be earmarked for a local manufacturer was heartening to officials. "That's great news," said Terry Murphy, vice president for economic development for the Muncie-Delaware County Economic Development Alliance. "Magna is going to be a survivor of this whole automotive downturn. They stand to pick up some of the business lost by others in the industry." In Muncie, Magna employs about 140 people, a smaller number than the 400 employees forecast when the plant opened three years ago. "They're just a victim of (downturns in) the automotive industry," Murphy said. "Their sales are down, they're hurting like everyone else, but they're a strong company worldwide." Murphy said the local Magna plant has been performing parts machining work for the automotive industry, including General Motors. Fuerst said the Muncie plant "assembles and machines powertrain components and sub-assemblies" while the Michigan plant is where electric drive modules are assembled. Ball State University economist Michael Hicks said it was hard to gauge the impact of the federal funds on the local manufacturing scene. "I'd think they'd want to spend more money here in Indiana than Michigan given the tax climate, but that would depend on the differences between the two plants [in Muncie and Holly, Mich.] and what the grant is for," Hicks said. Other Indiana companies and federal funds they will receive, as announced Wednesday, were: EnerDel, Indianapolis, $118.5 million. Delphi, Kokomo, $89.3 million. Allison Transmission, Indianapolis, $62.8 million. Remy, Pendleton, $60.2 million. Magna E-Car, Muncie, $40 million. Navistar, Wakarusa, $39.2 million. The president made Wednesday's announcement at the former Monaco RV plant in Wakarusa.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| North Dakota RV Sales Up - KFYR-TV Posted: 29 Jul 2009 04:55 PM PDT Camping in the summer is a tradition for many families, but when families are on a tighter budget, some aren`t traveling as much or as far. Nationwide, RV sales are down, but some dealerships in North Dakota, are seeing the opposite story. Scott Craigie is retired. He and his family travel around in their camper a few times a month. This is the second recreational vehicle they`ve owned and they say, with the amount of traveling they do, owning an RV has been a huge savings. "Motels, a decent one is 80 dollars a day, then we have our dogs and they charge you a premium to put a dog in the room. We have 2 generally, so we pay the premium twice and that`s 100-dollars and then you have to buy your meals and when`s the last time you ate out for 30-bucks?" said Craigie. Campgrounds are still seeing full lots this year and people are still enjoying outdoor activities, but some industry professionals say people are also just using what they already have.. Which means, for now, no new purchases. In 2003, about 390-thousand RVs were sold nationwide. Numbers this year are down 65-percent from that peak. Between factory closures across the country and some of the biggest names in the RV Industry filing for bankruptcy, it`s been a tough year. "Numbers are drastic across the country, really, but there`s parts of the country with the automotive industry, the housing industry, especially with the east coast and west coast. They`re struggling," said Kurt Leier, the Sales Manager for Capital RV Center Inc in Bismarck. Capital RV in Bismarck is not seeing what other dealerships are. Last year, its 2 dealerships in North Dakota sold a combination of about 900 RVS, which is its second highest earning year in its 23 year history. "We`re stable here but what we`re seeing is probably not as many people traveling from other states to here with their families and things. Probably staying closer to home and camping," said Kurt. It`s not all bad news for those other dealerships as the industry is expected to gain momentum over the next 5 years and rebound back.
For campers like the Craigies who`s RV lifestyle has taken them around the country, it`s one expense that won`t be cut out.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| BAKER CURB RACING-27-NNS - Rotoworld.com Posted: 06 Aug 2009 06:18 PM PDT |
| Fleetwood RV, Inc. Launches New Consumer Website - The Auto Chanel Posted: 03 Aug 2009 04:56 PM PDT DECATUR, IN - August 4, 2009: Fleetwood RV, Inc., a leading producer of high-quality Class A and Class C recreational vehicles, today announced the launch of its new consumer website: www.fleetwoodrv.com. "Our new website is an interactive platform created to help our customers make educated decisions about their future motor home purchase," said John Draheim, president of Fleetwood RV, Inc. "It includes the most up-to-date information about our products, as well as a host of functional features that we believe consumers will find useful whether they are purchasing their first motor home or their next motor home." Key highlights on the new Fleetwood RV website include: About Fleetwood RV, Inc. Fleetwood RV, Inc. ("Fleetwood RV" or the "Company") is a leading manufacturer of Class A and Class C recreational vehicles. The Company has one of the best and longest standing distribution networks in the industry and boasts some of the industry's most recognized and iconic brand names such as American Coach and Bounder. Fleetwood RV is headquartered in Decatur, Ind., which is also its principal manufacturing location. The Company also owns Goldshield Fiberglass Inc., an industry leader in custom molded composite products across a variety of industries including heavy truck and RV.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Hard-hit Ind. town struggling to make a comeback - WSVN-TV Posted: 06 Aug 2009 01:03 PM PDT
Hard-hit Ind. town struggling to make a comebackWAKARUSA, Ind. (AP) -- These are not happy times at the Happy Days Cafe. Business is down 60 percent since December and the only reason the northern Indiana cafe stays afloat is because an Elvis Presley impersonator performs a few times a month. So don't blame Jean Miller if she doesn't put much stock in President Barack Obama insisting economic recovery will come to Elkhart County, which at nearly 17 percent has one of the country's highest unemployment rates. "People have lost their homes, they've lost their cars, they've lost their jobs, they've lost their savings, they've lost their pensions," said Miller, 64, who runs the cafe in Wakarusa, a community of 1,700 that has been devastated by the collapse of the RV industry. "It's almost next to impossible to gain back what they've lost. It's going to be a long time, if ever." During a stop Wednesday in the Wakarusa, Obama said the key to the nation's economic recovery is creating opportunities in a place like Elkhart County where cornfields stretch in every direction and Amish residents riding in carriages is a common sight. "The battle for America's future will be fought and won in places like Elkhart and Detroit, Goshen and Pittsburgh, South Bend, Youngstown -- in cities and towns across Indiana and across the Midwest and across the country that have been the backbone of America," Obama told an invitation-only crowd at a Monaco RV plant that was purchased in June by Navistar International Corp. after its previous owner went bankrupt. He offered a glimmer of hope: auto-dependent Indiana and Michigan were getting the largest shares of $2.4 billion in grants to build up electric-car manufacturing. There have been other signs that jobs are trickling back. In May, Gulf Stream Coach and Electric Motors Corp. announced they would spend more than $80 million on factories in Wakarusa and nearby Nappanee. Still, few counties in the United States have experienced as dramatic a reversal of fortune in the past year as Elkhart County, which ranked No. 7 in greatest year-to-year change for the worse in June, according to The Associated Press' Economic Stress Index. Elkhart County's AP Stress score was 9.04 in June 2008. A year later, it stood at 19.4. The AP calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on each county's unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates. The higher the score, the higher the economic stress. The county's jobless rate also soared to 16.8 percent in June -- up 10 percent from the previous year -- after manufacturing jobs were slashed. At times over the past year, nearly one in five people in the area have been looking for work, Obama said. Donna Sharp was one of them. The Jimtown resident was laid off from her job painting stripes on recreational vehicles at Monaco in December. With no job in sight, she went back to school, earning her GED credential and enrolled at a community college to become a medical assistant. But in May, her former boss called to say Navistar was hiring back 21 former Monaco workers in the paint department and did she want her job back? "I never thought I'd be back here," said Sharp, 45, whose husband was laid off from his railroad job in the spring. Sharp, who attended Obama's speech Wednesday, said she is optimistic about the area's future but acknowledges things might never be the same. She's doing the same job as before but is making $7 an hour less. With a salary of $362 a week, she can't afford health insurance, which costs $224 a week. Dawn Bechtel, a 48-year-old sales clerk at Jeanette's Fabric Boutique, said people are trying to be upbeat. "I think there's still a lot of wait-and-see what the winter brings," Bechtel said. "I think we're going to have to get through the winter to really feel that we're headed on an upswing. I really think that's going to make a difference." (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) |
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