This is a chart showing the dollar value over time. Kind of interesting when you look at the dates...
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2007/11/...

I would like to know where Gov. Doyle was? Did he even try to save the Gilman jobs like he did GM's? Or maybe he did, the media just doesn't cover things as much if it's not GM related.
When the Gazette had the first article in the paper about this German company purchasing Gilmans and how it was going to be great for Janesville......yeah right! We all know what has happened. At that time I told my husband that it was not going to be great for Gilman employees. Since then I have refered to that article numerous times with discuss.
My husband is one of those employees (soon to be UNEMPLOYEED)out on the road that will have a letter waiting for him on his return home.
And as far as Billy Boy goes, lets hope he doesn't get back into the White House. I can only assume that he will have his 2 cents worth put into every decision the Pant Suit Queen makes.

It's very simple. Republican Presidents are never responsible for a bad economy. Democratic Presidents, however, even if they preside over an economic boom and budget surpluses like Bill Clinton, are still responsible for a recession that doesn't begin until they've been out of office for eight years.
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Since Bush is the President, and has been for two full terms, I suppose holding him responsible even slightly for the current condition of the economy is out of the question. This is, after all, America. It would be unpatriotic.

Were Clinton, Obama, OPEC, and the auto industry there too? And the overspending of America, the foreclosures, the maxed out credit card bills, and the gimme gimme gimme population of America? Or was it all just W and Cheney? Come on - you can't blame all this on a couple of people. Get real. Why is the dollar weakening? Let's figure that out & fix it, then we can all move forward. Quit blaming and start solving.

Much of what is happening in the economy is tied to the weakening of the dollar related to other countries' currencies.
The facts of the national debt and deficit speak for themselves and those are directly related to Bush's activities. These debt/deficit issues are the prime reason for the weakening of the dollar.

Seabee - I heard the same rumor.

I heard that Bush and Cheney sat up late one night planing the demise of Janesville. For some reason they just have it in for this town. If they would have just asked me, I would have told them to back off, as Janesville is more than capable of screwing itself up and does not need the administrations help. :)

Funny anyone would mention Bush. The President's grandfather Prescott was the US banker to Fritz Thyssen during the Nazi era, and some have questioned the morality and legality of those connections.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep...
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I always thought it was odd that we would end up with two German conglomerates in Janesville (the other deGussa) with unsavory pasts.
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In any case, Gilman had a long history in Janesville and it's a hard blow to see them go for good. 150+ jobs, some of them engineers with advanced degrees who will have even more trouble finding work locally than the average line worker who can at least transition to another manufacturing job.
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It's also going to be another vacant industrial site for the city to deal with.
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Anyway, as I've said repeatedly, the city has a very diverse business and manufacturing base compared with 20 or 30 years ago, and nobody can really say that there hasn't been anticipation of a GM closure.

MYYEAR-Automated Systems= Robots ? Powertain Systems =converyer belts ? for the AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY.... So are you saying bad managment/ decisions because they made parts for the auto industry ? If so do you drive a car/truck or do you ride a bike ? I would like to know what companies were their biggest account ??And you still think this has nothing to do with the auto industry as a whole ? I won't call you a GM hater ... My quess is you just don't like the auto industry as a whole.

I'm also a former 'Gilman' employee and I'd sure like to know what all that GM business was that Kramer is remembering, because I sure don't. Most of our automotive business came from Ford and Chrysler. GM generally went with the lowest bid, and we weren't the lowest because we didn't build cheap machines. The comments made by formergilman are closer to what I remember. Yes indeed, it is a sad day for all of us.

Poor managment ! Bad decisions ..

Wow what a way to find out your job will be terrminated. The workers there found out this morning. They were told they could go home for the day if they wanted but thank you to those that choose to stay today and answer the phones to talk with their fellow workers(friends),some of which have been sent out of town to do work for this company, and let them know what is going on back in Janesville .....But don't worry they will have a letter waiting for them in the mail when they get back. How nice!

As another former employee, I can say that unless you’ve worked for Gilman… you don’t understand what took place and for what reasons. For one, Gilman Eng. did do work for GM Janesville several times. Now granted, GM Janesville did purchase many of their machinery from other machine builders…but Gilman would still do work for them. It’s sad to see this company go. =(

As a former Gilman employee (or as unfortunately 170 others are also) it is sad to see how bad management decisions and bad owners have systematically destroyed a local company with a 72 year history. The GM decisions and NAFTA have nothing to do with the downfall of Gilman, It has been one poor management decision after another that has caused Gilman to be pigeon holed into the automotive industry. As there competition has learned to diversify Krause became more and more tied to the auto industry with devastating results. As the employees have always said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. And as we can see the results are the loss of 170 good manufacturing jobs and a company that was an innovator in the world of automation (RIP Gilman 1936 to 2008)

GM in Janesville never once purchased a machine made by Gilman Engineering. They always went out of town for their machines. GM wants Janesville to buy locally; so why don't they?

MYYEAR-What DOES it have to do with ???

If you want to blame someone, I'll remind people that want to blame "W", it was bill clinton that pushed and signed the Gatt and Nafta treaties into law.

This company has been going down for a long time ! This has nothing to do with GM .

I am not sure how this is "W" fault. The President does not control the economy, the people do. People spending money on over inflated house prices and excess credit card spending beyond their means is the result of the resent economic fall. Badgerlvr - what is your economic strategy?

Most people associated with ThyssenKrupp knew this was coming, simular to the GM situation. This business was being slowly dismantled by the company, so it wasn't a shock. Doesn't make the news any easier to absorb. The new incoming city Manager will have a huge task in forming a local economic strategy that can match our local educational pool. Students remember that as you are learning specific knowledge to position yourself in a field that has growth, not one that is slowly going away (manufacturing).

Like the song from Queen..."and another one bites the dust". Thanks "W". Your legacy will live on and on and on.

Well here it comes...175 employees without jobs in Janesville.As said before this is so much bigger than just GM. My thoughts and prayers go out to all.