May 16, 2009
By Brenda Benedict
From my viewpoint here in Michigan, I can tell you that the state of Michigan is still standing although somewhat wobbly, despite the horrific past couple of weeks for the auto industry. Even here in Western Michigan where our dependence on the auto industry is not as great as it is across the state in the Detroit area, the outlook for the future is grim. As the business world around us crumbles, we are hanging to the hope that the bankruptcy and restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler will allow a comeback in the future.
Michigan economists are predicting the survival of Chrysler and General Motors but not as we know them now. They may re-emerge in a much smaller version. “The supplier base will collapse in Michigan,” is what these economists are saying.
“What is the supplier base?” you ask. It is the every day, blue collar worker here. An auto manufacturer such as General Motors makes very few of the parts that go into their products. They are assembly plants where parts arrive to be put together before a car comes off the assembly track. The car parts are made in small to mid manufacturing plants scattered around the state. The mirrors, the bumpers and thousands of other parts are all made here by hard-working every day citizens.
For Michiganders every cutback and every announcement of an auto-related job loss has a face for us. It is someone from our family, a friend or neighbor. I know so many people who have been unemployed now for a considerable time and have completely lost hope of finding a job in our state. So each additional job lose brings with it a greater sense of hopelessness because we already know so many unemployed people.
The unemployment rate here is the nation’s highest and continues to climb. It may reach 20% by the fourth quarter this year.
Every business in the small town I live in is feeling the pinch. And if the Federal government has its way, NASCAR may begin to feel this pinch very soon.
Chrysler and GM have been assuring NASCAR officials that their support of racing will not be affected but their business troubles. However the latest reports tell a different story.
A late report from Automotive News, says that in spite of the fact that Chrysler wanted to spend $134 million in advertising in NASCAR over the nine weeks it is expected to be in bankruptcy, the U.S. Treasury's auto industry task force gave it half that.
Sources outside of NASCAR are also calling for the government to force the auto companies, who are accepting Federal funds in the bailout, to stop supporting NASCAR.
The Back Stretch Auto Racing writer Shawn Courchesne went so far as calling this week for a major cutback in auto company spending in NASCAR because NASCAR has plenty of money. Courchesne states “And don't shed a tear for NASCAR or its teams should they lose the money. There's no shortage of excessive surplus in the Sprint Cup Series garage that includes manpower and all the fancy trappings that go along with the sport today.”
“Having a presence in the sport is good, but in these times of desperation, when the very foundations of a country’s economy are on the line, pouring dollars into the pockets of already rich men to keep their teams operating in the black should not be taking place.”
I think it is time for the fans in the NASCAR world to begin to speak out. Write to your government representatives and let them know that the bailout money should be used to support something as American as NASCAR. I don’t want to see the faces of hopelessness that I see here in Michigan spread to the world of NASCAR.
And I want to send a shout-out to those of you around the country-Come and visit Michigan. Tourism is our second largest industry and the economy is hitting it hard too.
Statewide travel, an estimated $18 billion sector in Michigan, is projected to drop by 3 to 4 percent this year, according to yearly projections from Michigan State University. Travel volume in Michigan dipped more than 6 percent last year.
You can help give our citizens a boost by coming to visit us. We’re all set up for you.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
