The Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation is now looking for funding after hundreds of new auto employees in the region are losing their jobs.
Nemak announced on Tuesday that it is closing its Windsor plant by mid-2020, putting 270 employees out of work.
The company says this decision is a result of the early phase-out of an export program with a customer in China, which is expected to bring capacity utilization at the plant to less than 10 per cent by 2020.
CTV News has learned the program is with GM Shanghai and sales of vehicles that use a 2L engine block made at Nemak have dropped 75 per cent.
The news follows a decision earlier this year by FCA Canada to end the third shift at the Windsor Assembly Plant on October 21, throwing 1,500 employees out of work
The WEEDC submitted grant applications to the federal government on Wednesday, seeking economic revitalization assistance.
"We've had two major announcements from two major employers," says President and CEO Stephen MacKenzie. "The time is now to get support funding that we can initiate even more activity, recruit more companies, to assist more companies that are here."
Nemak did receive nearly $5 million in funding from the provincial and federal governments to keep its Windsor operations viable.
In January 2017, the Windsor Nemak plant got $3 million in funding from the federal government through the Automotive Supplier Innovation Program.
In 2015, the plant received a $1.5-million grant from the province's Southwestern Ontario Devlopment Fund.
Windsor West New Democrat MP Brian Masse says the government should be securing a commitment before offering taxpayer money to companies.
"We have money going in, not necessarily having workers coming out with a job a few years later," notes Masse. "There needs to be strings, and there needs to be targets."
Masse tells CTV News the loss of 270 jobs is a sad situation, but a good example of why Canada needs an auto strategy, something he's been pushing for since the Conservatives were in power.
Masse argues what he calls "corporate welfare" needs to come with strict oversight and accountability.
"I believe in a business plan that's living, not just handing over one investment, one cheque at a time and then walking away and thinking that you're done," says Masse. "It really requires ongoing investment and an inventory of resources and skills sets that we can market and sell."
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens tells CTV News he spoke with the plant manager, who says the company isn't selling the plant. Dilkens hopes that will leave the door open to keeping the plant operational.
"I get the sense that there's at least a glimmer of hope with respect to them being willing to consider other product alternatives," states Dilkens, who adds the news reinforces the need for economic diversification.
"We have to be prepared to deal with any of these types of things and how they affect our community," says Dilkens.
The city also had $1.3 million on the table through its Community Improvement Plan.
The city never cut that cheque for Nemak, and Dilkens believes that is because of the city's strong controls that would have required the company to expand.
