Gov. John Kasich says he’ll be talking to General Motors about its decision to shut down the assembly plant in Lordstown, potentially putting 1500 people out of work. But he’s sounding like all isn’t lost even if the plant closes.
Kasich said he’s talked to GM about how the Lordstown-made Chevy Cruze wasn’t very profitable. “I had a sense that there wasn’t this kind of a decision coming at this point.”
But in the end, he said there isn’t much the state can do. “This is pure economics. This is what a free enterprise system is. And we have to take care of the workers, but this is very painful. I mean, Lordstown has been a critical part of that whole region up there and it’s a sad day.”
And as for whether his job creating entity JobsOhio could have stopped this shutdown, Kasich said, “JobsOhio can’t tell a board of a company or a CEO of a company how to run their business.”
Kasich said he’ll be talking to GM CEO Mary Barra about moving another vehicle production line into that facility or whether it can repositioned, perhaps with a parts manufacturer.
(NOTE: the full interview with Gov. John Kasich, where he talks about Lordstown, graduation requirements, his plans for the future and his thoughts on politics, will air on "The State of Ohio" this weekend.)
