City Fights to Save Jobs
By: Nadia Bashir
Updated: September 24, 2009
The City of Ft. Wayne is fighting to keep some of the highest paid jobs Ft. Wayne has after documents show Navistar is considering a move to the Chicago suburb of Lisle. The City is putting together a package of incentives to present to Navistar to keep the company in Ft. Wayne.
A three-and-a-half page public hearing notice from Lisle shows a detailed proposal from Navistar regarding a facility there. A City spokesperson says the City believes the proposal in Lisle includes plans for a facility almost identical to a facility in Ft. Wayne. The proposal includes plans for basketball and squash courts.
Navistar employs about 1,000 people in two facilities in Ft. Wayne. The test-track facility in Ft. Wayne employs more than 800 people including many engineers. Those positions are some of the highest paying in Ft. Wayne. Andi Udris of the Ft. Wayne Allen County Economic Alliance is spearheading the campaign to keep Navistar in Ft. Wayne. He says the plan is being worked on by both the public and private sector.
The City hopes to get the plan to Navistar before its next meeting in Lisle in October.
