By Adam Studzinski
NORMAL – The area received some tough news on July 24 when it was announced McLean County’s 6th largest employer, the Mitsubishi plant in Normal, would be shutting down.
Mitsubishi Motors released a statement on a Friday morning, saying “It is necessary to end production and seek a strategic buyer for the plant.” The reactions poured in from local leaders
“Obviously, it’s very, very upsetting and we think about not only the plant, but the workers and their families and what it means to this community,” State Rep. Dan Brady (R-Bloomington) said.
U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) added his support.
“I would hope that we can work together in a bipartisan, and then also with the company and with the union, to ensure that if Mitsubishi is not going to remain there that they’re willing to part with the facility that’s there so somebody can come in,” Davis said.
Normal mayor Chris Koos said the community needs to embrace this as a new opportunity.
“And to aggressively engage key local, state and federal leaders to help us develop an aggressive strategy to find a new owner for the local Mitsubishi facility,” Koos said.
Bloomington mayor Tari Renner said finding a new owner won’t be easy.
“Certainly, not going to gloss it over to say, ‘Hey, you know, we’ve got a 50-50 chance of getting somebody,’” said Renner. “I think the odds are long.”
A task force was formed immediately to try and find a buyer for the plant, but one was not found in time to stop the plant’s last shift from happening at the end of November, an event which drew more than 150 people to the plant. Gary Fern worked at the plant from 1988 until he retired last year.
“After spending so much time here at Mitsubishi, and enjoying quite a bit of it, and having so many good friends here, we just felt that it would be worth our while to come up and support them,” Fern said.
President of United Steel Workers Local 787 Mike Tucker was also on hand to send off the workers.
“We need more manufacturing. We need to be building something,” said Tucker. “This has been a great company. The employees have been fantastic. They’ve been so generous with all the different organizations around here.”
Local leaders are still working to find a buyer for the plant, which is currently running on a skeleton staff and will officially halt production by May.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
