Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: John_K
My Dad made millions of them in a factory in Toledo, Ohio. Both are gone now.
When did they close it down? I had not heard of this.
http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2010/05...edo-on-map.html
Quote:
A century after an enterprising former stock boy moved his fledgling company from Boston and transformed it into an automotive titan, the last vestiges of that company will pull out of Toledo for good this year.
The corporate owners of Champion Spark Plug have informed approximately 40 remaining Toledo employees that the research center and small production line on Upton Avenue will close this year.
Jim Burke, director of corporate communications at Southfield, Mich.-based automotive supplier Federal-Mogul Corp., said the work being done in Toledo would be transferred to facilities in Plymouth, Mich., and Burlington, Iowa. About half of the current work force will be given the opportunity to transfer to other facilities, Mr. Burke said. "We expect the transfer of work presently at that facility will occur by the end of the year," Mr. Burke said.
"Champion is one of the corporations that gave Toledo its identity because of its great marketing success early in the 20th century," said Timothy Messer-Kruse, a professor at Bowling Green State University and longtime Toledo historian
The Champion spark plug became well-known as the auto industry developed, and its ties to Toledo became ubiquitous, he said.
"It's a curious technology that was not exactly pioneered in Toledo but perfected in Toledo, and it was a part of our identity as an automotive assembly, parts, and glass community," he said.
Messages for current employees of the facility at 900 Upton weren't returned yesterday. However, former employees who lost their jobs decades ago when the plant laid off hundreds of workers weren't surprised by the latest decision.
"I didn't think there was much left," said Janice Tye, who was a credit analyst for Champion until much of its corporate staff departed for St. Louis in 1993.
"Champion was kind of like a cornerstone of Toledo, Ohio, for years and years. When they relocated, you just had to accept it and move on and get a different job."