Following yesterday’s news regarding the imminent closing of the Motorola assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas, city mayor Betsy Price and City of Roanoake mayor Carl “Scooter” Giersch issued their own statements on the matter yesterday to local media. Mayor Price’s statement follows below with Mayor Giersch’s comments given to NBC affiliate KXAS-TV, also based in Fort Worth.
“We are obviously disappointed in the announcement that Flextronics will close its Fort Worth facility as part of a company strategy to consolidate its manufacturing globally. This is a tough business decision, but one this company believed it had to make in order to ensure the future health of the company. It’s just part of the economic cycle that businesses will rise and fall. However, on the whole, all economic indicators in Fort Worth continue to rise. We have a lot of momentum and I remain confident that business and job growth will remain strong for the foreseeable future.”
Mayor Giersch of Roanoke had this to say regarding the plant closure and the direct economic impact being felt as a result:
“We’re the closest city to them as far as restaurants and shopping and so forth goes and a lot of those folks come to Roanoke to eat in our restaurants and shop in our stores and so forth, so there will make an impact. I mean this is a large facility and I remember when Nokia was there and all the employees that left there back several years ago, and it is, it’s a big shock to open and not even be there a full year and this announcement happens and wow. ”
Since the news of the announcement yesterday, Motorola has since confirmed that the Moto Maker program will continue after the Fort Worth plant closure, though more specific details such as the long-planned expansion of the customization program to Europe and Mexico are yet to be confirmed along with the future logistics of the program.
