Honda plans to build Civics at Ind. plant

Honda Officially Breaks Ground for New Auto Plant

GREENSBURG, Ind. -- A few hundred people gathered under a construction site tent Monday to officially welcome Honda Motor Corp.'s latest U.S. factory in a groundbreaking ceremony filled with shiny shovels and short speeches.

"Building the Civic is a big responsibility," he said. "That should tell you how confident we are in the people of Indiana." Gov. Mitch Daniels called Monday a beautiful day and told the audience not to be misled by the cold rain falling outside. "Today, Indiana says yet again to the world, 'We are open for business,"' Daniels said. A few miles away from the factory, in Greensburg proper, the reaction was more reserved. Business owner Wayne Peetz said the Honda plant will bring some good to the community, "and there's going to be a lot of bad with the traffic." Peetz worries that workers will pass through the heart of Greensburg to reach the factory, clogging streets near his Greensburg Printing Co. across from the courthouse during shift changes. Most residents are looking forward to the opportunities the factory will bring, said Jim Brodie, who was eating lunch at Storie's Restaurant on Main Street. Jobs are expected to pay an average of $24 an hour, and economists estimate that each new Honda job could result in six others that will serve the plant and workers. Any local hires would be a boon for Greensburg, said Nancy Binkley, another diner patron. "The kids, when they graduate from school here, they have to go away to get a job," she said. "This will keep them in the hometown." But restaurant owner Don Storie wonders how many of those jobs will be filled by residents of Greensburg, which sits roughly halfway between Cincinnati and Indianapolis. "They're talking about 2,000 jobs for assembly, but I don't know how many of those jobs will be locally, maybe 20 percent," he said. Brodie, who was born and raised in Greensburg, said others worry about the Honda project's size. "Some people are afraid it will do something to the small-town atmosphere," he said. A couple miles east of the factory site, along I-74, a handmade sign sits in an empty corn field, reminding passing drivers that "Agriculture is an industry too." Honda, which first announced factory plans last year, will work hard to be a good neighbor, said Jeffrey Smith, American Honda's assistant vice president of corporate affairs and communications. He said that includes factory workers pitching in as volunteers and reusing and recycling as much as possible. "Our goal is to take nothing to landfills," he said. The Greensburg plant will be Honda's fourth Civic assembly line in North America. The automaker also has factories in East Liberty, Ohio, and Alliston, Ontario.

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