Gov. John Kasich said he’s still working with officials at General Motors Corp. on the planned shutdown of the Lordstown assembly plant March of next year, but isn’t offering promises that it can be halted. He’s also firing back at those who’ve been critical of his response.
Kasich said the shutdown is a painful loss, but it’s pure economics. And he said it’s not comparable to what happened with the 2009 departure of NCR Corp., formerly of Dayton, which Kasich blasted Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland for repeatedly in his successful campaign to defeat Strickland in 2010.
“Anybody that would suggest that clearly doesn’t know much about business. NCR just moved, and sometimes companies are going to move,” he said.
Kasich said he’s not giving up, but he doesn’t want to give false hope to the Lordstown community.
Kasich suggested that a new purpose for the facility is a more likely option than a new car line. He said that happened at a former GM facility in Dayton, where he says more people are now employed by an auto glass manufacturer than worked for the automaker when it shut down there.
