WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) met with Navistar International Corp. President and CEO Troy A. Clarke to discuss the company’s manufacturing facility in Springfield.  Brown worked with Clarke in addition to UAW Local 402 and local leadership to save the Springfield facility, which currently employs more than 850 Ohioans.

“Because of Navistar’s dedicated workforce and the strong leadership of Troy Clarke, production at the Springfield plant has increased in recent months and employees are back to work,” Brown said. “Since 2010, we have seen the plant grow from 250 workers to more than 850 today.  Navistar is building on this success, hiring more new workers and continuing to invest in Springfield. These good-paying, highly-skilled jobs are critical to Ohio’s manufacturing renaissance and to our state’s economic recovery.”

As Clark County’s ninth-largest employer, the Navistar facility represents the forefront of advanced manufacturing in Ohio.  In addition to making medium duty trucks, Navistar’s new investment in Springfield will allow the facility to also produce MaxxPro military vehicles, used by troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. The first such truck was built at the facility in April 2013.

Brown, who has been described as "Congress' leading proponent of American Manufacturing," has continued to lead efforts to bolster the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry, both in Ohio and across the country.  In 2011, Brown introduced a bill to require the Secretary of Commerce to develop a comprehensive national manufacturing strategy that would boost traditional and high-tech manufacturing, spur American job growth, and strengthen the middle class.  Earlier this year, Brown sponsored an amendment to establish a national network for manufacturing innovation which would leverage private and public sector investments to bolster American manufacturing.

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