MORAINE, Ohio -- Workers at the General Motors Assembly Plant in Moraine said goodbye to each other and their jobs Tuesday.

The plant has shut down for good, and its was an emotional sendoff for the plant and its workers.

A lot of people have been dreading Dec. 23. After months of anticipation, the GM Truck and Bus Plant has finally shut down, and union members marked the occasion with a gathering not far from the plant gates.

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Some union members said losing the plant is like losing a long-time friend, so it was fitting that the event took on the tone of a funeral.

Member James Carson said, “There’s a lot of good men losing their jobs. A lot of good women also.”

There were prayers said for the people who work in the plant who are losing their jobs.

The last few SUVs rolled off the assembly line. In all, about 1,100 people are being put out of work. The unions here are now pledging to work together to help those who will be in need this holiday season and in the months to come as they look for work.

There was also talk about how the government should be doing more to create more jobs. And then there’s the buckets, saying the federal government should be reaching down to workers here.

Union members said they tried to preserve jobs at the plant, but in the end, nothing could be done.

Some of the people that News Center 7 talked to had not only worked in the plant themselves, but also had two or three generations in their families work in the plant at one time.

City, County Leaders Look For Redevelopment Of Plant
Moraine city and county leaders lost the fight to keep the plant alive, but they are continuing to battle to bring business back into the building, and keep tax revenue coming.

The city and the county have been working for months to figure out who to use the 4.1 million-square-foot facility.

Mike Davis, Economic Development Director for Moraine said, “The employees let go and laid off. Yes, we lose revenue income tax based upon salaries.”

Davis said they’re losing cash and lots of it.

Although a little more than 20 percent of the city’s budge relies on income tax from GM workers, the city said it is prepared to weather the financial storm.

Davis said the good news is that GM has been open to process and to participate in a redevelopment committee.

GM workers from Moraine’s plant live all over the Miami Valley. However, Davis said the biggest impact for the property’s devaluation will go toward Kettering’s School System because of the plant’s physical location.

City leaders said they are still working to redevelop the area and perhaps bring in a new business.

Here is a profile of the Moraine plant by the numbers:
Site Area: 202 Acres
Start of Plant Construction: July 1950
Operations Began ( as a Frigidaire plant ): October 25, 1951
First Production Truck: August 26, 1981
Building Size: 4,400,000 square feet.

History Of GM Moraine Assembly Plant
It is the end of an ear for the Dayton area when it comes to automobile assembly.

Lou Eckert said a red Chevrolet S-10 Tahoe that is sitting in a building at the Carillon Historical Park is the first pickup truck that came off the line at the assembly plant in Moraine.

The truck was the result of the plant being re-tooled at the Moraine facility after production began back in the ‘50s as GM Frigidaire, making refrigerators, heavily influenced by Dayton inventor Charles Kettering.

The refrigerator business shut down and the plant was re-tooled and reopened in August of 1981 as the GM Truck and Bus Assembly Group.

During the height of the plant, more than 4,000 workers pumped out a half-dozen product lines at once that included, pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.

At the same time, the plant added a new state-of-the-art paint shop, allowing the plant to be awarded new product lines regularly.

In January of 2007, the six millionth vehicle rolled off the assembly line, which was a Chevrolet Trailblazer. And, in August of 2007, the company, managers, union and managers celebrated the plant’s 25th anniversary.

In late 2006, the plant eliminated third shift workers, and General Motors refused to award the plant a new product line, which was something that was needed to keep it open beyond 2010.

Second shift workers eventually lost their jobs, and in June of 2008, the announcement was made that the plant would end production.

Rick Waggoner, GM CEO, said, “We need to address the rapid industry shift. Today, we are announcing our plans, over time, to cease production at four GM Assembly plants.”

The Moraine Assembly plant was on the list. The end of production came much sooner than expected as the state and national economy tanked.

The last vehicle to come off the assembly line is expected roll off sometime during mid-day on Tuesday. It is expected to be a white GMC Envoy, and it may also end up at the Carillon Historical Park as part of Dayton history.