UPDATE: Got a call from a Ford spokeswoman, and the deal isn't quite done yet. Read the update after the jump ...
Finally, some good economic news for the Kansas City area. The Ford Motor Company announced yesterday that the Claycomo assembly plant will get a new production line.
Missouri leaders breathed a cliched sigh of relief. Lots of fingernails were chewed after Ford announced that Claycomo plant workers wouldn't be making the Ford Escape anymore. That work will be going to Louisville, Kentucky, after the end of next year. But Ford played it to KMBC Channel 9 like there was never anything to fear.
Ford's manager of corporate communications, John Stoll, wouldn't tell KMBC's Micheal Mahoney what new line of vehicles would be added to the work the plant already does on F-150 pickup trucks. Whatever vehicle Ford chooses to make at the Claycomo plant, it's finally some good news for the area that's seen a lot of disappointment (read, Folgers plant closing, Harley-Davidson threatening to move and more than I care to remember).
UPDATE: Kelli Felker, Ford's broadcast communications manager, tells me that the new vehicle line is contingent on the automaker and the state of Missouri reaching a memo of understanding on tax incentives -- something the two have been negotiating over for a while. So not a done deal yet.
Here's the key part of the statement from Felker: "We do have new product in mind for Kansas City and we are committed to continuing to work together with all of our stakeholders, including the state of Missouri, as we move closer to making it a reality."
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