Automotive industry
Talladega County is helping set the pace for the Alabama automotive industry.
A recent report showed the automotive industry in the state leading employment with nearly 45,000 workers employed with automakers and suppliers.
And Talladega County trails only Tuscaloosa County in industry workers, with 6,001 workers in 2005, up 50 percent from 4,002 in just two years. Statewide, automotive jobs are up 44 percent.
The study, conducted by the Alabama Automotive Manufacturers Association, was presented at the group’s quarterly meeting in Mobile last week.
Calvin Miller, executive director of the Talladega County Economic Development Authority, said the state is appealing to automakers because of its low taxes and cost of living, as well as a strong work ethic present in its work force.
“When we tell industry executives that taxes on a $100,000 house are about $400, they ask if that’s per month,” Miller said. “People who’ve been working in Ohio are surprised by that.”
And that magnetism to industry has in turn greatly improved the economy of the area, Miller said.
“From 1999 to 2003, per capita income went up 33 percent,” he said. “Because the automotive industry has located here, it’s made everybody’s income go up.”
Since Honda Manufacturing of America cranked up its Lincoln assembly line in 2000, industry suppliers have popped up around the entire county, supplying the plant with anything from metal parts to gloves for its workers. Ten automotive plants supplying Honda have begun production in post-Honda Talladega County.
Ted Pratt, spokesman for Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, said work ethic has produced a strong production line that continues to roll more models every year.
“We’ve been able to gather a very motivated and committed team of associates,” he said. “Our associates are very proud of the products we are making, and the marketplace is responding very well to the Odyssey and the Pilot.”
And Honda’s job base continues to grow. The plant still has positions available in its current expansion, which will add a machining facility to produce crankshafts and connecting rods and 100 more jobs to the facility, bringing Honda’s total employment in Alabama to about 4,600 workers.
Honda currently gets its crankshafts and connecting rods from facilities in Ohio. After the expansion begins production, those parts will still be forged in the Midwest but will be shipped to Alabama for machining.
In 2005, production on Line 2 reached 650 vehicles and engines per day. Since Honda located in Alabama, about 750,000 Honda Odysseys and Pilots have rolled out of Talladega County, and that number is expected to surpass 1 million this year.
Pratt said growth beyond the new facility will be determined by market demand.
“If the market continues to seek our product, we will do everything we can to meet that demand,” he said. “But there are more ways to grow than just up. We are expanding our capabilities and are responsible for more parts that are going into the engine.”
So with more parts of a Honda being manufactured in Alabama, the company depends on more Alabamians for their labor.
Pratt’s words echo the state’s entire auto industry.
“It’s just been a very successful year,” he said.
By Richard McVay
