The small town of Huntington, Indiana (just down the road from me, population 17,500) will loose 700 jobs over the next two years when Utec (United Technologies) closes and moves to Mexico. They build the electronics for Carrier. I recently spoke with an engineer that worked there recently. He said that the site's lean manufacturing initiatives were keeping them competitive with Mexico and China and that they had recently moved work back into the facility due to quality problems at the offshore facilities. The reason Utec gave for the work transfer was that it allowed them to be closer to their customers.
Year over Year this once strong manufacturing community looses jobs to Mexico, typical of small towns across the rust belt. How much is enough? How many jobs can you take out of a community before it dries up and blows away? In it's heyday in the from the 60's through the 90's this town was thriving with many stores, auto, motorcycle, boat dealers, etc... The population was employed, and had disposable income. It's all gone now. This micro-economy seems to represent a story all to familiar. When the jobs go, it drags everything down with it.
Year over Year this once strong manufacturing community looses jobs to Mexico, typical of small towns across the rust belt. How much is enough? How many jobs can you take out of a community before it dries up and blows away? In it's heyday in the from the 60's through the 90's this town was thriving with many stores, auto, motorcycle, boat dealers, etc... The population was employed, and had disposable income. It's all gone now. This micro-economy seems to represent a story all to familiar. When the jobs go, it drags everything down with it.