DANA: CAPE CHAMBER'S INDUSTRY OF THE YEAR DESERVING OF THE TITLE

The massive warehouse-like building that houses the Spicer Axle Division of the Dana Corporation sits atop a rise overlooking the Southern Expressway in the south end of Cape Girardeau.

Dana Corp. has been a part of Cape Girardeau since 1988. It was named in 1993 as Cape Girardeau's Industry of the Year.

"We are a precision machining or metal-cutting operation," said Larry Schwenk, human resources coordinator for the company. "We machine components for the center section of driving axles for two-wheel and four-wheel drive vehicles."

The parts are then assembled and sent to other Dana Corp. plants in Columbia, Mo., Buena Vista, Va., Fort Wayne, Ind., and Syracuse, Ind., where the axles are completed. The finished product is then shipped to the Original Equipment Manufacturers Company, which distributes the parts to automotive giants such as Ford, Jeep, Corvette, Isuzu and Viper.

In mid-January 1989, Dana Corp. officials announced a $23 million, 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to be located in Cape Girardeau.

Today, the firm is listed among the top 25 industries in the Southeast Missouri area.

Nationally, Dana Corp. started out as Spicer Manufacturing when Clarence Spicer patented the first practical automotive universal joint and drive shaft.

Charles A. Dana -- lawyer, politician and businessman -- assumed the reins of the company in 1914 to give it needed financial guidance.

In 1946, the company was renamed Dana Corp.

Today, Dana's worldwide sales come from five key markets and total about $4 billion.

The company is the 105th largest industrial corporation in the U.S. and one of the 250 largest in the world. More than 38,000 people work in 700 facilities representing 27 different countries.

"Because there are no other industries like this in the area, we don't have a pool of experienced workers to draw from," said Schwenk. "So when we're hiring, we look for people with basic industrial skills who are capable and willing to be taught."

Dave Blanchard, plant manager for the Cape Girardeau facility added: "What we have found are intelligent, industrious, hard-working people who take pride in their work and strive for excellence."

The plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is a "down time" three hours a day, four days a week for regular maintenance of machinery.

Dana Corp. employs 217 people at its Cape Girardeau plant, all of whom are salaried workers. Last year, the plant produced about 500,000 sets of components.

The plant building, which was completed February 1990, was built with room for expansion. In fact, Schwenk said by mid-1995, the plant hopes to employ 325 people.

Dana Corp. employees are not your typical factory workers. Prospective employees must first register with the Missouri Job Service. Qualified applicants will be interviewed by a team of Dana Corp. employees and management officials. The top 20 applicants will then be invited to take a two-week, 40-hour course at the Cape Girardeau Area Vocational-Technical School, where they will demonstrate their job skills to instructors while learning others.

Those who complete the "pre-employment" training at the Vo-Tech School, will then be brought back for a second interview.

"If they do well on the second interview, they are invited to join the Dana team," Schwenk said.

The first week on the job is spent in class -- 40 hours of on-site training, going over the company handbook and an explanation of benefits.

"Sixteen hours of that first week is dedicated to a program we call `Excellence in Manufacturing,'" said Schwenk. "It gives new employees the basics on working in teams, team dynamics and improving the workplace internally.

"The average age of employees of the Cape Girardeau plant is 32.6 years old; the average level of education is 13 years.

The plant itself is noisy, but clean and orderly. Employees wear protective eye wear and ear plugs at all times when on the factory floor. Camaraderie is encouraged, but dialogue exchanges are difficult in the loud surroundings.

Employees voted the plant to be a smoke-free environment.

"There are only two places you can smoke at Dana," said Schwenk. "You can smoke in your car or on the patio outside the lunchroom. Everywhere else it's prohibited."

Workers on the floor do their jobs with a minimum of supervision from management. In fact, there is only one plant manager per shift of 40 or more people.

"Our employees take pride in what they do," said Blanchard. "Our slogan for 1994, `people finding a better way' -- that's what Dana Corporation is all about."