From the left, Ron Cochran, Bill Ramsey and Teresa Cooney, stand with an Acura RDX that is produced at the Honda of America East Liberty Auto Plant. The three associates have been employed at the plant since it opened in December 1989 and will participate in 30th anniversary celebrations today. (PHOTO | HONDA OF AMERICA)
Trio commemorates first day plant opened in 1989
Thirty years ago today, a four-door gray Honda Civic rolled off the production line at the Honda of America East Liberty Auto Plant, a day that will forever be etched in the memories of associates Bill Ramsey, Teresa Cooney and Ron Cochran.
For these three area residents and their 1,800 fellow associates who would begin their careers at the newly opened plant in December 1989, there was much anticipation and celebration as this first vehicle was completed in East Liberty following all of the groundwork that had been laid in the proceeding months.
“Everyone was excited with everything that led up to our grand opening, and every part on that first car had to be confirmed and checked,” said city resident Cochran, who currently serves as a weld department manager for the plant.
“From observing the construction of the plant earlier that year to now having a vehicle coming off the assembly line — it was completely amazing. We were starting with a new and completely clean slate.”
Now three decades later, the 2.9-million square-foot East Liberty Auto Plant with a capital investment of $1.9 billion has a capacity of producing 240,000 automobiles per year.
It also is set apart in its flexible manufacturing capabilities that enables the facility to change its production line-up according to company needs and consumer demands. Currently, its 2,800 associates produce the CR-V and Acura MDX and RDX models, with the MDX added in the spring of 2017.
“There’s a lot of pride when you’re driving up to the plant, where the canopy says East Liberty Auto Plant,” said Cochran, a 1981 Marysville High School graduate. “It was a small country road here before all of this was built.”
“I grew up nearby this area around Rushsylvania, and I never thought in a million years we’d have this one day,” said Bellefontaine area resident Ramsey, who serves as an East Liberty Plant engineering project leader.
Thirty-year associates Ramsey, Cochran and Cooney are participating today in the plant’s anniversary celebration and with Keith Strickland, Line 3 Division Manager, are hosting Tom Shoupe, Honda of America Mfg. executive vice president, and a number of local, state and federal officials for tours and informational sessions. Earlier this year, Honda of America also hosted festivities to mark its 40th anniversary in Ohio.
“I enjoy my job. I’m proud to work here knowing how the customers view Honda and the kind of reputation that the company has built with its quality products,” Cooney said.
As a Vehicle Quality Department leader, she is responsible for ordering parts and also is charged with shipping completed vehicles from the East Liberty Plant to Honda of America.
“I’m one of the final sets of eyes to see the vehicles before they are shipped out. I really enjoy that aspect of my job. I have to make sure that the vehicles meet final inspection before they are sent to American Honda and then shipped out to the dealerships,” the Marysville resident said.
A 1979 London High School graduate, Cooney said she was hired in 1986 at the Marysville Auto Plant to work on the engine line.
“When the East Liberty Plant was announced, I wanted to see how things started, from the bottom up,” she said. “It was an exciting opportunity.
“I also enjoyed the closeness of the people I worked with. It wasn’t quite so big at that time, and we all knew each others’ families.”
In the years that have followed, Cooney related observing the growth in East Liberty’s production capabilities, robotic technology and the number of women working at the facility.
“Back in 1989, there were just two women working in my area. Now we have a lot more women working here, and I feel like there are even more opportunities for women to begin their careers here.”
Ramsey and Cochran also worked at the Marysville Auto Plant before starting their positions at East Liberty. A 1979 Benjamin Logan High School graduate, Ramsey said he was working as a team leader at Marysville and had inquired about how he become involved to help at the new facility.
Cochran, who first was hired at the Marysville Motorcycle Plant in 1983, said that he was working in maintenance at the Marysville Auto Plant and was asked by the maintenance team to join the East Liberty Plant.
“We worked in construction trailers before the plant was completed, and we had daily interactions with associates who were brought in from Japan to learn everything that we could,” he said.
“I also took several trips to Japan to see the welding in action, and the steel that they were working with was really something.
“They treated us very well while we were there and were very hospitable — it was a memorable experience.”
The engineering project leader said one of his Japanese mentors left an impression during the early days of operations as well in the assembly division.
“He relayed to us the importance of our plan and our actions, which we would carefully check over and over again. I learned so much from him.”
With a firm foundation in place, the plant eventually began expanding its production line-up and diversifying with its flexible manufacturing capabilities. The East Liberty associates worked through the learning curve of starting to produce sport utility vehicles, with the addition of CR-Vs in 2006, Ramsey said.
“We had become flexible in the sedan market, but we were going to enter the SUV market to begin manufacturing CR-Vs,” he explained. “We had to spend a lot of time with our associates to explain all of the details, the new technology and reinforced infrastructure that would come along with it. They were a little fearful at first, but they really came on board.
“Today, we have the capability to manufacture anything from the Civics to light trucks.”
“The associates took these challenges head on — otherwise we wouldn’t have the success that we do today,” said Stephanie Gostomski, Honda of America Mfg. Corporate Affairs communications.
In 2002, the plant also paved the way on a flexible manufacturing first by producing light trucks on the same line as cars.
With the addition of the Acura line in 1996, this development has “brought us up as a plant, producing the luxury vehicles” and all of the attention to detail, Ramsey said. The first Acura CL was produced at the plant in 1997.
Like Cooney, the two Bellefontaine area residents reflected that their 30 years at the East Liberty Plant have been built on a sense of accomplishment in their work and the appreciation of the associates whom they work alongside.
“It’s been wonderful — all of the people we get to work with and the pride in the product,” Cochran said.
Ramsey said following his high school graduation, he started farming before working at Honda. Years ago, he thought he’d go back to agriculture full-time.
“The downturn in the farming economy brought me to Honda, but the people and the opportunity have kept me here for all these years,” he said, noting that two of his daughters, Jenny McAlexander and Alycia Henson, also work for Honda of America.
“I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”