Lordstown — The Lordstown community is still reeling from GM's announcement that it will no longer produce the Chevy Cruze at its factory there.
President Trump tweeted Tuesday, that he's quote "very disappointed with General Motors" and that he’s looking to cut all subsidies for electric cars.
Aside from the immediate impact of lost jobs, there's the impact on the community. GM has had a presence here for half a century. Grandfathers, fathers, daughters all employed by the same company...working in the same location.
These people are not just co-workers, but family. As they are with the people who actually live in Lordstown.
At one time, the plant was the area’s largest industrial employer with about 4,500 workers. Now, it’s down to one shift at about 1,500 people. A slow but steady decline that's hit hard.
Dr. AJ Sumell, an economics professor at Youngstown State University says, "This area has dealt with economic devastation for more than 40 years. The resiliency is in some ways part of the fabric of the community.”
Ross Eatery and Pub has weathered this storm before. They've been here 20 years. But with most of their customers coming from the plant, they say this could be last call.
Jackie Woodward, a life-long Lordstowner whose dad and brother worked at GM, says "Almost every family has been impacted in this community in some way."
She recently opened up the restaurant Our Place Diner, and is bracing for impact.
"If they’re not spending money because they have no income, then it effects everybody else, in Lordstown, and the County, the surrounding area, the entire Mahoning Valley,” she says.
The Village expects to lose a million dollars in income tax if the plant closes, but Lordstown Mayor Arno Hill says they can hold out for a year without service cuts.
“When things are going well you make sure you invest your money wisely back into the community. And that's what we've done," Hill tells us.
The School District, which relies on most of the property tax from the plant to the tune of $800,000 of the more than $1 million the county collects, is still in business since GM owns the building and is on the hook for the tax.
But workers aren't willing to entertain all of that just yet.
"I think there's hope for Lordstown. If they want zero emissions, we can do that. Whatever they need, we can do that," says Dave Green, President of the local UAW.
And everyone is hoping that all of the politicians who say they’re fighting for the plant will help keep the family that has become Lordstown afloat.
"We’re hoping and praying and waiting. It's a waiting game," says Woodward.
Some say, even if the plant were to shut down, the community won’t fall apart. TJX Companies, which owns stores like TJ Maxx and Marshalls, plans to build a distribution center in the village which would bring in 1,000 jobs. The downside, is they’re not the higher paying jobs that come with the Lordstown plant.