Though the automotive industry has taken a heavy hit in Michigan, some still believe it can be revitalized.
An AnnArbor.com article states that “the tubular parts manufacturer that acquired Ypsilanti’s former Ford plant is still seeking contracts with major automakers before ramping up production at the renovated site.
Dennis Radojcich, senior adviser for strategic business development at Angstrom-USA LLC, said the Taylor-based company is in discussions with auto companies to secure contracts that would allow the Ypsilanti plant to come to life with new production operations.”
Granted, there are signs of the auto industry slowly rebuilding from its earlier crashes. Ford’s stock has managed to go back to its pre-economic issues value. But is it enough to start trying to bring the auto industry back from the grave? Is it still possible to rely on the Big Three to be the crux of Michigan’s economy? The short answer is no.
Statewide, and at the local level, people should be wary of attempts to bring the auto industry back to its former glory. With plants shipped off and sold and migration out of the state, the glory days of the Big Three are dead.
That’s not to say rebuilding the auto industry should be abandoned entirely. People just need to be realistic about it. The Ypsilanti facility, when ready, will be a relatively small plant. The effects it has on the economy will be local. That’s fine. In fact, that’s great. Small, local forces working toward an overall better Michigan is much better than one massive hub keeping the state economy strong.
By being local, if one plant fails, the rest of the state won’t crash with it. Each local region can also choose an alternative to the auto industry if it’s more viable in this new economic climate. That means a diverse, dispersed Michigan economy, as opposed to the old centralized one trick pony.
Local initiatives like this are a great start to a better economy, both state and nationwide. The article mentions “the purchase of the Ypsilanti property was part of a series of recent acquisitions for Angstrom, which also bought a plant in North Carolina and two plants in Ohio.
‘When we talk about growing, we have attempted to grow in a strategic way,’ Radojcich said. ‘We have all these little component operations going on with the ultimate dream of landing some major modules that we would put in the Ypsilanti plant.’”
Local efforts at locally based medium-sized businesses and industries could revitalize the entire nation. A new era of American industry could prosper if we are careful, cautious and, above all, realistic. These endeavors will not be an overnight success, and not all of them will survive in the long term. And for now, we need to look locally to solve problems before we look to the nation as whole.
Eventually the time will come for national progress. By that time, hopefully enough local initiatives will have started that the national level will just be linking existing those local initiatives.
This is the modern system in a way, with each area having its niche economic support. Michigan needs to realize the auto industry as it once was is gone, but hope is not lost for the state.
Industry in Michigan can succeed. New businesses can prosper. All we have to do is realistically and carefully work to better local economies so the state as a whole will improve.
Local, relatively small industries like the Ypsilanti Ford plant can be the future of Michigan, as long as we’re careful not to put all our eggs in one basket, because then we’re back where we started.
