That’s the day Whirlpool celebrated 2,000 jobs in Cleveland — jobs that will be here for years to come.
It has been said over and over that the work ethic of Whirlpool employees in Cleveland and the loyalty to their product played a major role in Whirlpool’s decision to make its largest North American investment in Cleveland. This equates to over 1,500 jobs in the new manufacturing facility and over 500 jobs in the call center.
Our community last Friday went through a destructive series of storms. We had been there before — in April of last year when lives were lost and homes destroyed. Friday’s storms wreaked havoc with homes, but no lives were lost. On Friday, just as a year ago, the people in this community rose to the occasion to help their neighbors, friends and their fellow man.
People make all the difference, and this was proven during the storms and proven at Whirlpool’s celebration.
Whirlpool employee Freddie Wilke said it all at Monday’s celebration when he gave an example of the Whirlpool employees uniting as “family” to help others affected by the storms. Monday was a joyous celebration and Wilke pulled it together with a prime example of why this community is the best choice for the Whirlpool investment.
The 12-year employee addressed his peers, relaying how Whirlpool came together as a family to help an employee whose home was damaged by the storm. Not only were employees on site with chainsaws and muscle to help with recovery, but the Whirlpool Corporation replaced appliances.
His observance was this: “If Whirlpool people do this on the outside of these walls, they’re going to do it on the inside of these walls.” He told his fellow employees that the new facilities are not a gift nor charity. He said employees “ ... absolutely 100 percent earned it.”
I wholeheartedly agree with Freddie’s assessment. Had it not been for the hard-working employees and their work ethic, our community may not have retained Whirlpool’s facility.
I say a big thank you to all Whirlpool employees for making this day a reality.
No doubt, Dicky Walters is a great leader and has a capable team of employees to assure quality products will roll off the production lines for years and years and years to come. That also equates to jobs for future generations for the next 100 years — a win-win!
