Ford Boasts $2.9 Billion Economic Impact in Chicago
Photo: Ford
Chicago Assembly Plant, which builds the new Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, leads Ford in its $2.9 billion economic impact on the economy in the Windy City. A new study from Boston Consulting Group shows that the employment of 7,100 Chicagoans at CAP and Chicago Stamping supports 23,000 supplier and community jobs, making the Blue Oval a huge player in one of America’s key epicenters of industry.
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The BCG study shows that Ford’s impact on the Illinois economy sits around 60,000 direct and indirect jobs and a $6.8 billion contribution to the state GDP. Ford’s Chicago Assembly Plant is its oldest continuously operating plant in the world, and it recently received a $1 billion investment to support the production of Ford’s new utility vehicles.
“Ford is proud to serve as a key contributor to the Chicagoland economy for more than a century,” said Ford Motor Company Vice President of North America Manufacturing John Savona. “While other manufacturers moved out of the city over the years, Ford has doubled down on Chicago, investing $1 billion to modernize our operations and build some of our most iconic vehicles, including America’s best-selling midsize SUV, the Ford Explorer, along with the Lincoln Aviator and Police Interceptor SUV.”
A century of manufacturing in Chicago
Photo: Ford
Chicago Assembly Plant has built the Ford Explorer since its debut 30 years ago. The plant’s history, however, goes back a full century to Ford’s purchase of a plot of land by the Calumet River in Chicago’s south side. Over the past century, Chicago Assembly has churned out benchmark products for Ford like the Model T, Model A, Thunderbird, and now the Explorer.
In addition to Chicago Assembly Plant and Chicago Stamping, Ford produces and purchases $2.2 billion worth of products in Illinois by working with 319 local suppliers. Ford boasts a strong local dealer network of 150 showrooms, which produces 6,700 direct jobs and 5,500 indirect jobs.
Ford is also a major contributor to the city on a philanthropic scale. Since September, Ford has distributed more than 3.2 million face masks and counting to communities in Illinois.
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Kyle S. Johnson lives in Cincinnati, a city known by many as “the Cincinnati of Southwest Ohio.” He enjoys professional wrestling, Halloween, and also other things. He has been writing for a while, and he plans to continue to write well into the future. See more articles by Kyle.