John Yarmuth: “Every 44 seconds, a 2013 Ford Escape comes off the line at the Louisville assembly plant. The Escape's parts make their…”

“Every 44 seconds, a 2013 Ford Escape comes off the line at the Louisville assembly plant. The Escape's parts make their way along 20 miles of conveyers inside a 3 million-square-foot facility that stretches a mile from corner to corner. Inside that facility are more than 4,200 Louisvillians--and a few Hoosiers--operating state-of-the art machinery capable of producing six different vehicles. Ford has a long and robust history in Louisville. The company has been manufacturing vehicles in Derby City since the Model T in 1913. The Louisville assembly plant opened in 1955 and since then has produced the Ford Ranger, the Bronco II, and the Explorer, to name just a few. Across town, the Kentucky truck plant has been operating since 1969 and employs nearly 5,000 workers. For years, both plants thrived--and with them, families. Just recently, a woman who now works at Ford told me that her dad had worked there for 50 years. Stories of Ford careers that span lifetimes--and generations--aren't rare in Louisville. There are fathers and daughters who have built careers side-by-side on the line. But by 2008, the Louisville assembly plant was outmoded and the U.S. economy was in crisis. The plant's future was clouded with uncertainty. Workers came to work everyday not knowing whether their jobs would be there tomorrow. Ford needed to innovate.…”