Don't miss this NPR segment about this foothill community's grass roots response to the closure of a car dealership. About 100 residents of Amador County, population 35,100, lost their jobs when GMAC froze credit to Prospect Motors and "yanked its cars off the lot." Prospect Motors is in Jackson, population 3,989.
Ben Adler's report plays up the impact on this rural county, which depends on tax revenue from Prospect, one of its largest employers. The report also notes the particular consequences of the dealership's closure to residents, many of which relate to spatial isolation. Former employees of Prospect face a limited job market unless they drive more than an hour each way to Sacramento for work, and those needing their cars repaired also face long trips.
Amador County residents have rallied around the dealership, with about a thousand attending a recent rally, and many writing letters to GM and GMAC in support of Prospect Motors. Whether their grass roots effort will bear fruit remains to be seen.
Read an earlier post here about how the failure of car dealerships is having a significant impact on nonmetropolitan places.
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1 comment:
You Democrats got what you wanted with Obama. He's the head of Government Motors (GM) now. You didn't think he'd make an exception for a right leaning county now did you?
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