Restructuring will have ripple effect on communities across the U.S.
updated 6:38 p.m. ET June 1, 2009
DETROIT - Pontiac. Mansfield. Spring Hill. Orion Township.
All these places once thrived (兴盛) in the shadow of General Motors plants (工厂). But now their futures — and their very identities — are in doubt with the automaker’s decision to file for (申请) bankruptcy (破产) and shut down more than a dozen factories.
The closings will cause “a ripple effect (连锁反应), and eventually it’s going to ripple ... all over this country,” said the Rev. Robert Knox, 53, who worked for GM for 31 years before taking a buyout (收购全部或大部分股权) in 2006. He’s now an associate minister (牧师) at a Baptist (基督教洗礼) church in Pontiac, Mich., where GM will close an assembly plant (装配厂).