Commissioners sending letter to Ford's head honcho

By: Mike Conley | McDowell News
Published: November 10, 2009

The chairman of the board of directors for the Ford Motor Co. will soon hear from the chairman of the McDowell County Commission.
At Monday's commission meeting, county officials agreed to send a letter to William Clay Ford Jr., executive chairman of the board of directors for Ford Motor Co. This letter will ask Ford, who is a great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, to personally look into the closing of Legendary Ford-Mercury in Marion.
"The community is a traditional manufacturing community with strong loyalties and values," reads a first draft of the letter. "These loyalties include many people with a loyalty to the Ford brand.
"Ford Motor Company has recently made a decision to close the local Ford dealership. This dealership is Legendary Ford. Our understanding is that the business was profitable and had outstanding Ford loyalty. The decision to close the dealership has been unlike any negative economic news that we have seen. There have been customer 'rallies' and almost daily reporting of the decision in the local media. There is a major consensus in McDowell County that this community should have a Ford automobile dealership."
The letter, to be signed by Commission Chairman David Walker, asks Ford to take a personal interest in this matter and "consider a decision that would enable a Ford dealership to continue to serve this community."
The county commissioners said Monday they want to let Ford know how important it is to have a dealership here. The ambulances used by the county Emergency Medical Services are Ford vehicles and they were serviced at Legendary. Many of the patrol cars used by the Sheriff's Office are Fords. The school system and the city of Marion also use Ford cars and trucks.
"This directly impacts our fleet of county-owned vehicles," said Commissioner Andy Webb.

Commissioners sending letter to Ford's head honcho

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