Mayor Richard M. Daley and Ford Motor Company officials unveiled Ford’s 2011 Explorer, a “next generation” vehicle that will be built at the company’s South Side plant, creating approximately 1,200 new jobs.
“When we look at the new Explorer, we see Chicago’s future,” Daley said in a news conference held at Millennium Park. “The fact that Ford chose its Chicago plant to manufacture the new Explorer shows that we have the local economic climate and the skilled workforce to meet the needs of 21st century global manufacturers,” he said.
The Mayor said that, as it has for most of Chicago’s history, the manufacturing sector will play a major role in helping the city flourish in the future.
Ford has been a major presence in Chicago since 1924, when it opened the plant where the Explorer will be made to make Model T’s. The City supported Ford’s efforts to modernize the South Side plant with $17 million in TIF funding for infrastructure improvements in the neighborhood and additional funding for job training and recruitment programs.
“We have always been willing to take on big projects, and there is no better time than right now to seize the opportunity to strengthen the position of manufacturing in our region, as Ford is helping us do,” Daley said.
More than 100 companies will produce parts and components for the new Explorer, including many in the Chicago area, and those companies will buy parts from hundreds more indirect suppliers. In addition to Ford's investment, key suppliers to the Explorer are investing in new facilities, adding shifts and hiring for new positions.
