At full capacity, the company will have 2,300 employees at the Montgomery County plant, according to Fuyao Glass America President and CEO Jeff Liu.
The new jobs are the result of not only the expansion, but also the new programs the company is tackling as a result of customer demand for its automotive glass products, Liu said.
“We have to get people ready to support those new programs,” he said.
Moraine Mayor Elaine Allison said the city is thankful for Fuyao’s continued investment and wants to ensure that area residents know that these jobs are available.
“Because of the economy, there’s a lot of people out on unemployment and this would be a great opportunity to help their own economic future, coming and getting a career here," she said.
The positions remaining open would not only negatively affect Fuyao, but any future investment by Fuyao and other companies looking in the area, she said.
“They might think the Dayton region as a whole is tapped out from an employment perspective,” Allison said. “That’s not the message we want to send as a community.”
Fuyao, the largest automotive glass manufacturer in China and the second largest automotive glass manufacturer in the world, first invested in Moraine in 2014, initially committing to create 800 jobs for its Original Equipment Manufacturer customers in the shell of a former General Motors assembly plant.
In 2015, the company committed to create 750 additional jobs to manufacture after-market glass. It now is operating with about 1,900 employees, Liu said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, who said he worked with Moraine officials to save the plant from demolition after GM left, repeatedly emphasizing that Fuyao’s open jobs need to be filled and “a great opportunity" for many people, including the unemployed.
“Before those (unemployment) benefits run out, they should come and take advantage of these jobs before they’re full,” he said.
Turner called the Fuyao expansion “a vote of confidence” for the community.
“At a time when COVID is affecting the economy, at a time when people are struggling, right here, Fuyao today, they have 350 open jobs,” he said. “They’re good-paying jobs with goods benefits. This exists and allows people to provide for their family. We want those jobs to be filled.”
If Fuyao is unable to fill those jobs, it will have to look elsewhere, Turner said.
“We want them to be right here,” he said. "We want Fuyao to know that as long as they invest and expand in our community, we will be able to rise to the occasion and provide them with a quality workforce so that they can grow here as part of our community.”
Allison said it is important that people realize that the company’s commitment is “not just a Moraine thing," but a regional effort.
“As we said a number of years ago when the GM plant closed, there was a lot of time and effort to rejuvenate and keep this plant," she said. “It was supposed to be sold for scrap, but look at it today. This is ... a thriving employer that we want to keep here and we want to keep those jobs coming into the city.”
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