foolmenot.comBelow is a lesson in leadership in reverse. Jennifer Granholm waited until Ford Motor Company had gone through several planning stages, made organizational commitments, and then she offers them an incentive to stay… A real leader would have known what Ford was doing, and would have responded to it a long time ago. Truth be known, had she responded sooner, Ford probably would have stayed for a lot less than $115 million bucks…It’s kind of typical of her behavior and reflects Michigan sorry economic state.
Full article follows…
Granholm offered Ford $115 million plus to save Wixom plant
Associated Press
WIXOM, Mich. - Gov. Jennifer Granholm says officials offered Ford Motor Co. at least $115 million in incentives to keep open its Wixom Assembly Plant, but the automaker turned down the offer.
Granholm presented the proposal in a Jan. 10 letter to Ford chief executive Bill Ford. She hand-delivered it to Anne Stevens, chief operating officer of Ford's Americas group, The Detroit News said Wednesday.
Despite the offer, Ford announced Jan. 23 that it would close the Wixom plant next year as part of the restructuring of its North American operations. The plant employs 1,500.
The state offer combined state and local tax breaks and training grants.
"The fact that an offer of this magnitude wasn't enough to keep one Ford factory here underlines how bad Michigan's business climate is and how difficult times are for our domestic automakers," said Lansing economist Patrick Anderson.
Ford said tax breaks were just one consideration.
"It is a very difficult decision to end production at a plant," said company spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari. "We must consider many business factors including customer demand for the product, manufacturing flexibility, operating costs and efficiency."
Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said Michigan did all it could to save the plant.
"We put an aggressive package on the table," said Boyd. "In the end, Ford made a business decision, and we respect that decision."