Unidentified & JasonTh -
I totally agree with you and echo your comments. You seem to get it, along with myself and a couple others on this website, but most are negative about the chances.

Excellent posts!

B.D.

The Janesville building, or any building for that matter, means nothing to GM. The cost to maintain or revamp a manufacturing facility is minuscule in the grand scheme of producing an automobile. In addition, they can write off the repairs to the GM Janesville facility should they decide to stay here. It boils down to capacity, workforce, location, and taxes. We have the workforce and the location. GM doesn’t need the capacity now, but eventually they will as they switch over to cars from SUV’s. Granted, they are having liquidity problems, but they still have access to roughly twenty billion dollars. This plant hasn’t closed yet and until the for sale sign goes in the front parking lot, I think it is worth the effort and cost to pursue a new GM product here in Janesville.

The plant may be 90 years old... but some bean counters somewhere must be crunching the numbers. Janesville has the infrastructure, the work force, and the support of government for manufacturing on a large scale.

GM could be holding out for more federal assistance in re-tooling. It seems only fair, Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyundai, et al, get bus loads of cash to build their non-union plants in economically depressed regions (read: we can pay less to hire the unemployed and make the government build our facilities for us)

GM would do well by holding out a while to get a helping hand. I don't agree with it, but it sure makes good business sense.

You bet the city will get a car..after everything shuts down that's about all they'll be able to afford is one car.

Lets see now..The city is helping to pay for a consultant for GM...I must have missed the part about funding for LEAR,GILMAN.etc.

MOCO....That was my point.
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I was refuting what shorty wrote in his post prior to mine.
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Note that the first line of my post was in "quotation marks" that indicates that I was "quoting" another post...in this case ...shorty's.
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Get it?

I agree momo, GM can't afford nor do they need another car factory. GM has too many now. Janesville, as a GM town is done. The sooner everyone comes to grips with this the better off they will be.
I took the buyout, enrolled at Blackhawk and found part-time work. There is life after GM, you just need to move on.

So if GM is getting a car, who is paying for the retooling and reautomation of the plant? GM as a corporate doesn't have the financial liquidity to do it and the State is already trimming the fat off of an already lean budget. Maybe the Packers are donating their $20 million bribe to General Motors. Even so, it'd be a very small drop in a very large bucket.

How about a brewery? People when they are down and out tend to drink. Great location for a brewery and we have the agriculture to support the crops needed in beer. It's got a rail support and it's own road to get the product out.

Johndoe: Just where does the city get its money from???? Taxpayers right?

What is wrong with the plan that they have? I think what they are doing is great but the city/state should also be looking at other things to bring to the area. Why not do both things at once?

If General Motors has a 15 billion deficit how in the world can anyone even engage the idea that they would be willing to spend hundred of thousands of dollars to re-tool and fix everything that is wrong with the building.

Janesville should save all this money that they are planning on paying the consulting firm and put it in looking for someone or something to take over this plant.

Hey; GM only dropped $15.5 BILLION last quarter. Perhaps they need some consulting on how to avoid bankruptcy.
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http://uk.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUK...
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Or perhaps they should consult Exxon Mobile on how to turn a profit. Now there's a company who knows how to make $$$$$$$!
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http://www.smartbrief.com/news/api/story...
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$11.8 billion in profit turned, and it's considered a disappointment!

I applaud the task force team hiring a consultant. This is a smart move on their behalf. The consultant has more experience gathering the necessary data needed to put together a good presentation for the meeting with GM. This is Brad Dutcher and Tim Cullen putting their egos aside and doing what is in the best interest of the city by adding more experience to the team. Moreover, for those who complain about the cost of the consultant, I would argue this is the best investment Janesville has made in the thirteen years I’ve lived here and the cost is being split between the Union, City, and State. This is the team putting it all out on the line and doing whatever possible to help convince GM to maintain a presence in Janesville. Although I think this should have happened a month ago, it is great to see nevertheless. We must continue to look at employment alternatives even if GM does maintain a presence here. However, there is little doubt that GM is still an important part of Janesville’s economy and all efforts to keep the automaker here should be exhausted.

Great the addition of a "consultant" has turned this grandstanding from a waste of time to a waste of time and money.

Consultants are scammers who "propose" a cookie cutter solution for every client. A black hole for money. The only people who hire in and believe in consultants are suits or government blowhards who hope to network themselves into a easy consultant gig someday.

stand to be corrected... Can't wait yo see you in the soup line as I drive by, as I don't work there or live there. Jealously will get you negative people nowhere.

"Ignorance prevails again. I don't believe there has been ANY talk regarding this consultants fee being put to the taxpayers."
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Re-read the last sentence..."The consulting firm will be paid through FUNDS FROM the CITY, STATE, Local 95 and other stakeholders, she said.

If you think Sheridan isn't doing his job... I think he's running un-opposed.

Ignorance prevails again. I don't believe there has been ANY talk regarding this consultants fee being put to the taxpayers. All facts need to be heard before these trivial rumors start.Edgerton would love to have a bus. like GM... all they want here are antique shops!!! People need to be a little more caring to their friends and neighbors. The whinners out there sound like jealous babies... makes a grown adult a little sick. What ever happened to caring about your community and seeing it thrive???? I'm glad I can sleep at night.

It's not a rumor it's called desparation.

just

Rman4, i also have heard that at work. is this jsut a rumor someone started and it spread so fast or could there be some truth to it?

Forgot add, where's Mike Sheridan local 95?? He bailed on you guys like a paratrooper and he's got that nice high paying layed back government job many of you local brothers and sisters worked so hard to help him get. His promise was to go to Madison to keep GM going in Janesville. Ya, right. Hell-o Mike are you out there???? Your district needs to vote his butt out ASAP!!!! So he knows how all of you fellow local 95 members feel.

So, we're going to hire another consultant!! WOW is right. We spent at least a million on consulting fees on a new jail. Only to figure that our county cannot afford that new sprawling show place. So, that over a million dollars was a waste. The State has spent millions in the past on consulting fees for all kinds of projects. For instance the University payroll system program. It got scraped after spending millions on it because of arguing between mangement and their arrogance over who was in "charge". Now for the taxpayers and workers to spend a dollar to chase a dime on a obvious dead horse is again simply a waste of money. Government always hires consulting firms so that they can respond if nothng happens or there are mistakes that, "isn't their fault, they followed what the consulting firm advised." parman and the others are correct GM has far bigger problems right now than to even consider spending millions they don't have (as their stocks are heading for the sewer) on a MODEL A building facility.

Janesville WILL be getting a car. Word is starting to leak out.

I heard the same thing....

way to go JimP. Im so tired of people trying to glorify Toyota.

Janesville WILL be getting a car. Word is starting to leak out.

So, the Governor forms a task force, and the task force hires a consultant, so they can work with the consultant another five to seven weeks before even coming up with a proposal. Show me the costs of this "consultant", and who will be paying for it, please.

I'm behind their efforts. I just wish we had worked collectively with a carrot and a stick approach. I've always been for a threatened boycott of GM products, perhaps via a petition, but I see most people are too passive to try anything of the sort.

It's a nice effort on the part of the community, but nothing in Janesville is going to "wow GM's socks off". A token gesture, a chance to make some political hay. Are they going to try the "old razzle-dazzle"? The fear now is that GM has bigger problems than Janesville, so even winning them over might be moot.

This is a waste of time. Work toward another solution please!

This is a case of "damned if you do etc" They have to try anything, you can't wave the white flag and give up. Janesville is known for having one of the best workforces in the corp. The few dedicated union officials are trying to the end, and you have to repsect them for that.

Quit wasteing your time and money this dinosaur is already gone.

Favre has been re-instated and is on his way to Green Bay now!!!!!

I'm all for keeping GM in Janesville. However, I do believe the writing is VERY CLEARLY written on the walls and there are many who are pretending to be illiterate right now. GM has more to focus on right now than "just" Janesville; the company as a whole is in serious financial disarray and jeopardy.
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GM is losing the equivalent to 2 Corvette's AN HOUR in profit/money/liquid assets. If Wagoner isn't careful, GM isn't going to have the capital to pay his year end bonus LET ALONE spend MILLIONS to esentially rebuild Janesville's plant. I'm not being negative or disrespectful to the commission or workforce, just realistic.
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I'm fine with exhausting all efforts to "knock their socks off" in Detroit. However, I would hope that the commission would have a plan B in place--just in case. As little as 60 days from now, GM could be totally gone. Then what? Everyone will be looking around saying "How did this happen. What are we going to do now?" Precious time is being lost focusing on ONE possibility.
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Don't put all your eggs in one basket; especially if the basket is about to have its bottom fall out.

Like, "data and arguments" to retain "jobs or production or something." Those folks at GM will be wowed with that. Yeah, like a consultant to help with something. Like a professional wow.

SHOW-BOATING!!! This is a waste of effort, time and money, all of which could be better spent deciding what to do when GM packs-up and leaves.

Toyota Motor Corp. [TM-N]said its sales fell 12 per cent last month, led by a 27 per cent drop in truck and SUV sales. Sales of its Prius hybrid fell 8 per cent as Toyota failed to keep up with growing demand for the fuel-efficient car.

while i agree with some of what parman is saying, the auto industry is not going away.
toyota sales are through the roof.
people are still buying cars -- they're just not buying big cars.
sure, let's bring in emerging technologies, but perhaps retool that plant to fit emerging automotive technologies.

I agree 100%

Task force to save a dead dynosaur? This is another waste of taxpayer dollars in attempting to resurrect GM's 90+ year old plant. Face it, GM, which is fighting for it's very existence, is in no mood to listen. (If you think things are bad here in Janesville, go to Michigan, where (under the "leadership" of Dem. Gov. Grandholm) there are empty shopping malls, hundreds of idled plants, thousands of homes for sale and unemployment in double digits!)
Why can't our city leaders open their minds to exploring and attracting other opportunities in newer emerging industries? Then and only then will we see a return on our taxpayers dollars.