Nixon says Missouri is ripe for next-generation auto jobs

FENTON, Mo. -- Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jay Nixon outlined his plans for bolstering the state's auto industry Wednesday, meeting with auto workers in a St. Louis suburb hit hard by industry layoffs.

Nixon, currently the state attorney general, told Chrysler workers in Fenton that Missouri is a prime location for the auto industry to launch production of electric and other energy-efficient vehicles.

"A whole new generation of vehicles is going to be made in this country, a whole new product line of demand," he told dozens of workers at a union hall near a Chrysler plant.

"We are better positioned to meet that need. We gotta be there."

Citing declining demand for minivans and pickups trucks, Chrysler cut a shift from the truck plant in early September and will close the minivan plant Oct. 31.

Nixon's praise of Missouri autoworkers' efficiency and work ethic played well with his audience.

Ben Harman, 43, of Ste. Genevieve, Mo., an autoworker half his life, is among the 2,400 autoworkers losing their jobs this fall in Fenton. With a 16-year-old son with cystic fibrosis, Harman isn't sure where he'll work or get health insurance.

"As a country, as a state, as an industry and as individuals, we're in a crisis," Harman said.

Nixon said that as governor, he would use job training, tax breaks and other financial incentives to attract and retain next-generation auto jobs in Missouri. And he said he's got the competitive spirit to develop a game plan to win them.

"I'm not running for governor so I can have a loser mentality," Nixon said. "People are driving cars and are going to buy new ones. We ought to make them here."

Nixon faces Republican Rep. Kenny Hulshof, of the 9th Congressional District, on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Hulshof's spokesman, Scott Baker, said autoworkers are losing jobs because of high energy costs, for which he blamed Nixon and other Democrats. Baker said Democrats' opposition to domestic drilling put the country "into this energy mess today."

"Kenny Hulshof has outlined detailed plans to train Missouri's work force so we possess the skills that will attract the quality careers of the 21st century," Baker said.

Nixon said he would enlist industry, economic and government experts to research the best means of attracting next-generation auto jobs to Missouri.

Missouri's unemployment rate rose in August to 6.6 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from July, when the state set a 17-year high. The state's unemployment rate now is at its highest level since June 1991.

Nixon said he would offer tax credits to retain and expand jobs as well as retool existing plants. He also would create a public-private fund to research next-generation design and manufacturing.