Municipal officials in Chatham-Kent are still asking for businesses who may be affected by impending GM plant closures in Oshawa and the United States to reach out and ask for help if they need it.
GM announced on November 26 that it will close its Oshawa assembly plant and four other facilities in the United States next year as part of a global restructuring strategy.
Economic development officer Geoff Wright says news of the plant closures hits close to home, but at this point, the move is not expected to have a significant impact on local companies.
"We've gone through this before in Chatham-Kent and we know what it feels like -- thankfully, at this point, from what's being reported to us, there are no impacts on the Chatham-Kent region," said Wright. "All of the respondents have indicated to us that there are no anticipated impacts."
Wright says a number of local companies have contacted the municipality to share concerns about the plant closure, adding a few of them are in the low-to-medium area of concern, but so far, there is expected to be zero impact on the workforces of the companies who have responded.
"The majority of these companies are tool-and-die manufacturing companies, plastic injection mould-type companies, fabricators and machinists," said Wright. "We're very mindful of the families in the Oshawa region... and we wanted to make sure that the companies in Chatham-Kent are not affected by the announcement and if they are, we'd like to find out sooner rather than later."
Wright said while southwestern Ontario has seen a number of large manufacturing companies leave or downsize, the last 10 years have been "very good to the municipality of Chatham-Kent." He said the automotive industry, as well as other industries, have helped companies to diversify and not "have as many eggs in one basket."'
"If there are other companies out there that are experiencing difficulty, we hope they would give us a ring," said Wright. "A lot of times we can help companies find funding or we can help find other solutions or new markets and that's what we're focused on for the next four years."