08 OCTOBER 2012stltoday.com
Bodine Aluminum, a Toyota subsidiary forges ahead in Troy and St. Louis
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
2 min read
The foreign-made cars in the parking lot offer one hint how Bodine Aluminum differs from the remainder of a regional automobile manufacturing sector once dominated by Big Three domestic production.
Other clues, less evident, include the absence of layoffs at Bodine during the recession, an unprecedented car recall, rising fuel prices and a historic natural disaster that crippled it’s sole customer, Toyota Motor Corp.
Through it all, Bodine Aluminum kept plugging away at sites in Troy, St. Louis County and Jackson, Tenn. — where the company cranks out engine blocks that power nearly every Toyota model manufactured in North America. (The Prius hybrid and mid-size Tacoma truck are the exceptions.)
“We tend to be low key,” acknowledged Terry Henderson, general manager for administration at the plant that Toyota and Bodine put up 21 years ago on a bean field on the edge of Troy.
Henderson is too polite to add that Toyota forged ahead during a six-year period that has seen the Big Three presence here dwindle to a General Motors van and pickup plant in Wentzville.
It’s a profile that belies the prominent role that the company — which last week commemorated the 100th anniversary of its founding — plays in the Toyota supply chain.
In addition to the engine blocks found under the hoods of the Camry, Corolla, RAV4 and other Toyotas produced in the U.S. and Canada, Bodine also manufactures transmission covers for cars and trucks around the globe.
All told, the company’s three plants each year produce 60 million pounds of aluminum die castings.
The company’s reach today is in many ways emblematic of the direction of the auto industry over the 100 years since Jesse Bodine opened a casting factory at the intersection of Cass Avenue and 19th Street.
The agency on Thursday presented Bodine with a birthday gift of sorts when it awarded a $756,894 grant to Troy for road upgrades near the aluminum plant. The funds are expected to create an additional 35 jobs at Bodine and surrounding businesses.
Other clues, less evident, include the absence of layoffs at Bodine during the recession, an unprecedented car recall, rising fuel prices and a historic natural disaster that crippled it’s sole customer, Toyota Motor Corp.
Through it all, Bodine Aluminum kept plugging away at sites in Troy, St. Louis County and Jackson, Tenn. — where the company cranks out engine blocks that power nearly every Toyota model manufactured in North America. (The Prius hybrid and mid-size Tacoma truck are the exceptions.)
“We tend to be low key,” acknowledged Terry Henderson, general manager for administration at the plant that Toyota and Bodine put up 21 years ago on a bean field on the edge of Troy.
Henderson is too polite to add that Toyota forged ahead during a six-year period that has seen the Big Three presence here dwindle to a General Motors van and pickup plant in Wentzville.
It’s a profile that belies the prominent role that the company — which last week commemorated the 100th anniversary of its founding — plays in the Toyota supply chain.
In addition to the engine blocks found under the hoods of the Camry, Corolla, RAV4 and other Toyotas produced in the U.S. and Canada, Bodine also manufactures transmission covers for cars and trucks around the globe.
All told, the company’s three plants each year produce 60 million pounds of aluminum die castings.
The company’s reach today is in many ways emblematic of the direction of the auto industry over the 100 years since Jesse Bodine opened a casting factory at the intersection of Cass Avenue and 19th Street.
The agency on Thursday presented Bodine with a birthday gift of sorts when it awarded a $756,894 grant to Troy for road upgrades near the aluminum plant. The funds are expected to create an additional 35 jobs at Bodine and surrounding businesses.
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