Keith Kirbach didn’t come for the cookies.And it wasn’t free punch that prompted the 72-year-old Fort Wayne man to attend Tower Financial Corp.’s annual shareholders meeting Tuesday evening.FORT WAYNE – Some bad news hits you fast and hard, like a Mack truck. And some comes in dribs and drabs … until you’re almost numb.
This is the second kind for Tom Burkholder.
Navistar International Corp. will make an announcement at 10 a.m. today – Illinois time – in Lisle, Ill., about the company’s future. Lisle is the Chicago suburb where Navistar has said it wants to consolidate operations.
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will be there. So will Attorney General Lisa Madigan and numerous other Illinois officials.
But Burkholder, president of United Auto Workers Local 2911, is too worn down to get worked up about another step in the company’s plan, which includes moving a significant number of jobs out of Fort Wayne.
Navistar employs about 1,400 here, including contractors.
“I’m not discouraged or encouraged because I’ve heard so much stuff in the last 10 months that I’ll believe it when I see something happen,” Burkholder said. The 65-year-old expects to know more after union contract negotiations wind up.
Three years ago, Navistar officials talked about moving local design engineers to Alabama, North Carolina or Mississippi, Burkholder said. That false alarm keeps him from getting excited now, even though the plans to move engineers and other workers from Fort Wayne have progressed beyond rumor stage.
On June 29, Navistar released a statement that stressed its commitment to consolidating operations.
“At this time, Fort Wayne is not under consideration for the world headquarters,” the statement said.
On July 28, Don Sharp, Navistar vice president and chief information officer, said the company’s primary focus was Lisle. No other location would be considered until Navistar exhausted its efforts with Lisle officials, he said.
On Aug. 17, Navistar announced plans to “phase down various operations” in Fort Wayne over the next two to three years.
Burkholder points out that Navistar has moved its corporate headquarters before while continuing to keep engineering and design workers in Fort Wayne.
“I’ve seen it all. I’ve heard it all,” he said.
Burkholder, who has 37 1/2 years with the company, plans to retire if the local workforce is moved. But many Navistar workers face the choice of moving closer to Lisle, which is 180 miles away, or finding other work.
Local officials have been working to generate viable career choices for Navistar workers who want to stay.
Joe Fox, spokesman for Mayor Tom Henry, said the mayor received a phone call Tuesday from a Navistar executive. Fox, tied up in meetings, hadn’t spoken to the mayor about the call by the time he spoke to The Journal Gazette.
But assuming Navistar announces today a plan to consolidate in Lisle, the mayor’s plan will remain unchanged, Fox said.
“Our strategy is all about providing jobs for current employees, whether it’s with Navistar or someone else,” he said. “These high-level employees are a real asset to the community.”
Employers within Fort Wayne have called WorkOne Northeast to express an interest in hiring some of Navistar’s skilled employees. Fox has heard some companies from outside the region have expressed interest in opening operations here to capture the skilled workforce.
Other local efforts include creating a $100,000 scholarship fund for worker retraining, offering to match Navistar workers with new employers and lobbying Navistar to keep a portion of its operations here.
