Manufacturer discusses aid with officials

BYLINE: MARK

By Mark Szakonyi

Advocate Reporter

HEATH -- State and local officials are optimistic about ArvinMeritor's future, despite the

company's layoff of 93 employees from its Heath facility in the past month.

The plant's site manager, Michael Deep, met Wednesday with a Ohio Department of

Development representative and Heath Mayor Dan Dupps to discuss how the state could help the

manufacturer.

"I don't think the plant is having as much trouble as the rumor mill says," Dupps said. "I think

they are having problems getting their message out within ArvinMeritor."

The Heath facility must compete with ArvinMeritor plants in the South and overseas, which have

cheaper work forces and newer facilities.

"They feel they have a more experienced and higher quality workforce and higher quality

equipment (at the Heath plant), and I agree," Dupps said.

The Heath plant, at 444 Hebron Road, produces axles for utility, military, emergency, coach and

construction vehicles, said Krista McClure, an ArvinMeritor spokeswoman.

The competition within ArvinMeritor is spurred by the recoiling auto industry as a whole.

"These workforce alignments are primarily due to a decline in Class 8 truck sales as a result of

revised emission standards for new trucks that take place in 2007," McClure said.

The company expects a decline of sales after the "pre-buy" this year, when fleet and truck

owners bought vehicles that weren't required to have new particulate-reduction technology, she

said.

McClure said ArvinMeritor cannot confirm whether or not further layoffs will be required.

Christopher Chung, a manager of ODOD's office of business development, said the state can offer

the company incentive packages if it expands its Heath branch.

He said the state also was willing to help the plant market itself to their parent company like the

nearby Boeing facility did.

In August, Boeing opened a new facility, designed to calibrate radar detectors mounted on

military surveillance aircraft, after winning the project.

The transfer of the project from Corinth, Texas, was aided by a $1.5 million research and

development loan from the state and $500,000 loaned to Boeing from the Heath-Newark-Licking

County Port Authority.

"That is a good model of how the state can help business grow in Ohio," Chung said.

He said the company is facing many of the same challenges as other manufacturers, such as

increasing health care costs and foreign competition.

The company has done a good job of making itself more efficient and recently completed labor

negotiations, which were received well by both sides, Chung said.

"They are the type of manufacturing company that the state benefits from," he said.

Before the layoffs, the plant employed about 500 people, including about 400 hourly workers,

McClure said.

She said the company, based in Troy, Mich., uses a layered capacity strategy to gauge

necessary employment.

The company, which employs about 31,000 worldwide, was founded in 2000 with the merging of

Arvin Industries and Meritor Automotive, formerly Rockwell Automotive.

Mark Szakonyi can be reached at (740) 328-8546 or mszakonyi@newarkadvocate.com.