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There’s a posse on the prowl to make sure the Escape doesn’t escape the Northland.

With the pending overhaul of Ford Motor Co.’s Escape model, business and government leaders in the region have banded together to keep the line at the automaker’s plant in Claycomo.

All of these efforts are being made in the wake of the company’s best financial results since before the start of the economic recession (see “Ford experiences big turnaround”).

Ford executives have announced that a remodeled Escape will be unveiled in 2011.

The sport utility vehicle is built at the company’s Northland factory, along with the F-150 truck.

In addition to the Kansas City site, plants in Kentucky, Michigan and Georgia have also been mentioned as candidates for the new Escape line.

State Rep. Jerry Nolte, R-Gladstone, recently sponsored legislation that would use economic incentives to keep

the Escape line in Claycomo.

If approved, House Bill 1675 world apply to manufacturers that make capital investments of at least $50,000 per full-time employee into their Missouri facilities.

Qualifying companies could then keep 50 percent of their state wage and salary withholding taxes for 10 years.

Nolte chairs the House International Trade and Immigration Committee, which held a hearing on the bill Jan. 27 in Jefferson City.

“Everybody was very supportive,” Nolte said.

The bill would also provide similar benefits to manufacturing suppliers.

Nolte hopes the bill’s incentives will prompt Ford to build a “flexible platform” assembly line in Claycomo to replace the current Escape manufacturing facility.

Flexible platforms allow automakers to quickly shift production to meet consumer demands, according to Clay County Economic Development Council Executive Director Jim Hampton.

The F-150 line is already on a flexible platform, Hampton said.

Hampton is helming a taskforce convened last fall to figure out how to keep the Escape line running in Claycomo and spur even more automotive-related industries in the region.

“We wanted to know where we are competitively with other states that might be competing for that production,” Hampton said.

Ford’s 3,700 Northland employees earn roughly $500 million a year, Hampton said. That translates into a $3.5 billion economic

impact on the region.

Nolte is a member of the taskforce and his bill came in part from the group’s work.

Ford officials have refused to comment on the future of the Escape line in Claycomo.

Gov. Jay Nixon met with Ford President Alan Mulally on Jan. 22 in Detroit to make a pitch for reinvesting in the Claycomo factory.

Hampton was cautiously optimistic.

“I’m always nervous until the paperwork’s done and everything’s signed,” he said. “I feel like I have the opportunity here to save a lot of jobs in Clay County.”

Staff writer Ray Weikal can be reached at 389-6637 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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