GREENSBURG, Ind. (AP) — The job hunt begins Sunday for production positions at the $550 million Honda Motor Corp. factory under construction in southeastern Indiana.
Honda Manufacturing of Indiana will start accepting applications online and is looking for workers who live in a 20-county area around the factory site. That ranges from Marion and Henry in central Indiana down south to Switzerland and Jefferson counties.
Honda spokesman Jeffrey Smith said the company has a strict attendance policy, and it wants employees to live in Indiana, within an hour's drive of the site.
''We want all of our associates to be coming from a safe driving distance and to be able to get to work on time,'' he said.
Applicants also must be at least 18 years old and have a high school degree or GED. Prior experience at an assembly plant is not required, Smith said.
Applications will be accepted until Sept. 9. People can apply by visiting the
Web site or by contacting an Indiana Department of Workforce Development WorkOne Office. Hiring begins later this year.
Honda plans to produce 200,000 Civic sedans a year after its new factory reaches full production. It will employ about 2,000 workers at the plant, which is being built on 1,700 acres along Interstate 74.
Construction crews started moving soil last fall at the factory site, and production is expected to begin in the fall of 2008.
Decatur County Commissioner Charlie Buell said he was excited that general hiring at the plant was about to begin.
''I've been asked, over and over, when Honda would begin hiring. I didn't know what to tell them then, but I do now,'' Buell said Thursday. ''This is the news we've been waiting for and it's wonderful.''
Honda has already received more than 7,500 applications for non-production positions in areas like automotive engineering, purchasing and information technology. The company has hired about 15 people from that batch of applicants, Smith said.
It also has transferred nearly 100 people from factories in Ohio, Alabama, Japan and Canada.
