Closing of DHL profiled on 60 Minutes tonight

[DemReadingDU]

Scott Pelley talks to Mike O'Machearley, one of thousands of people who lost their jobs in Wilmington, Ohio. The town is one of the epicenters of the economic crisis.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4747825n

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4750098n

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4748093n

Text: Economic Storm Batters Ohio Town
Scott Pelley Reports From An American Town In The Path Of The Economic Storm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/22/60minutes/main4747832.shtml


Here's a video I found in the CBS comments section about the background of DHL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HkXuLgt4ak

[rvablue]

1. Watching it. So sad. n/t

[babylonsister]

2. Really sad, and this is happening all over. nt

[shireen]

3. i can't imagine how awful that feels.

It's so scary and sad to see a community torn apart like that.
These communities are fundamental building blocks of our country. We can't afford to see them fall apart.
:cry:

[Inspired]

4. There but for the grace of God, go I.

[Fire1]

5. Amen to that. But I bet they all voted for McCain.

[DemReadingDU]

9. Exactly what spouse said, and Turner for Congressman

This whole Miami Valley area is sad and depressed. Not only is DHL closing and laying off 10,000, but GM pulled out of Moraine, Ohio (south suburb of Dayton), another several thousand jobs. Soon to follow will be the loss of the supporting retail and restaurant businesses.

And today's paper brings news that NCR is unhappy in this area.

:(

[Fire1]

10. Really pathetic. It's getting worse by the day.

[malaise]

6. DIdn't see your thread

Too sad.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. Oh, wow, I was born in Wilmington, Ohio,

and I probably still have lots of relatives there, although I haven't been back in centuries.

[FarCenter]

8. good background on how the Wilmington hub came to be

See http://www.siteselection.com/ssinsider/bbdeal/bd040705.htm from July 2005.

The Wilmington hub was Clinton County Air Force Base, bought by Airborne in 1980.

When DHL bought Airborne, they wound up with redundant hubs in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Wilmington. In fact DHL had just expanded and improved its hub in Erlanger Kentucky with a $210 million expansion. State and local government kicked in $41 million for an apron improvement to clinch the deal.

After a year of dithering after the merger they decided to close Cincinnati and keep Wilminton, although part of Cincinnati was kept as a backup hub.

Note major involvement of government. Ohio came up with a $422 million incentive package - $300 million in tax exempt bonds and $122 million in tax incentives and improvements to get DHL to keep the Wilmington hub and close the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky hub.

In other stories during the 2008 campaign, the closure of Wilmington became an issue, since McCain campaign advisor Rick Davis was a lobbyist for DHL in 2003, and McCain had fought legislation that would have made the deal less attractive for DHL.

http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/08/aflcio_targets_mccain_in_ohio.html

[DemReadingDU]

11. Thanks for the links

Spouse (retired union Ironworker) helped expand the Airborne/DHL Airpark. It's a HUGE facility. Likewise, he helped enlarge the huge GM S10/SUV facility. So sad, and a waste of usable space for something else, but what?

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. If America is the richest country in the Free World, how come I can't afford to live here?

If America is the leader of Democracy, how come we have the Patriot Act and our conversations are taped?
If America is the most powerful country in the world, how come it can't provide basic affordable heatlh care and real jobs to its citizens?

I am sending this to comments section of whitehouse.gov.

Feel free to join in.