OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — A massive government contract will help create 1,000 new jobs at Oshkosh Corporation, but we now know those jobs will be far from Northeast Wisconsin.
In February, Oshkosh Corporation was awarded a $6 billion dollar grant to build the Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) for the U.S. Postal Service. Tuesday, we learned that production will be centered in South Carolina.
“I talked to an Oshkosh truck worker this morning and they were upset, and they were frustrated, and they should be because this caught a lot of people by surprise. We know this doesn’t make any sense. We know we have a workforce that is second to none,” said Tom Nelson, Outagamie County Executive and candidate for U.S. Senate.
Oshkosh Corporation declined NBC 26 an on-camera interview but provided statements.
Company leaders said back in February when they were first awarded the contract, they were not aware at that time they would be building their vehicles in South Carolina.
“No. The site selection decision was based on several factors, including workforce availability, manufacturing infrastructure, and proximity to our supply chain and USPS Vehicle Maintenance Facilities. The availability of skilled labor is high in Spartanburg and neighboring counties,” said John Bryant, Oshkosh Corporation and President, Oshkosh Defense.
"We worked with the Milwaukee 7, New North, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to explore opportunities to manufacture these vehicles in Wisconsin. Unfortunately, we could not identify an existing building that was viable for this project," Bryant said.
Nelson said that reason doesn't add up.
“In their words, the reason why those one thousand jobs that will be building these vehicles for at least 10 years producing tens of thousands of vehicles. The only reason why that’s not happening in Wisconsin is because they couldn’t find a building in Wisconsin that could do that sort of thing. Does anyone believe that?” Nelson said.
Oshkosh Corporation clarified what exactly it will be producing in South Carolina:
“This facility will be focused solely on the production of Next Generation Delivery Vehicle. The 900,000 square foot facility is perfect for our needs. It’s spacious, providing the opportunity for co-location of key suppliers and future expansion. When completely configured, the facility will include innovative features needed to accommodate a large-scale manufacturing operation that meets the technical requirements of producing cutting-edge vehicles for the USPS,” Bryant said.
He also said the company is teaming up with industry leaders whose proven sub-systems and components speak to the quality of the Oshkosh Defense NGDV.
“One of those suppliers is Ford Component Sales (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company), providing components across both ICE and BEV models including powertrain, drive train, suspension, and cabin interior components. We are finalizing our full supplier network as we mature the production design. We have no additional information to share at this time,” Bryant said.
He also said the company has chosen to establish the NGDV Technical Center right here in Oshkosh. The center will be staffed by over 100 team members who will provide engineering and program support for the NGDV contract.
"You’ll also be interested to know that on June 4th, the Army announced that Oshkosh Defense was awarded a contract for $942M to integrate a 30mm Medium Caliber Weapon System (MCWS) onto the Stryker Double V Hull Infantry Carrier Vehicle. The contract calls for the integration of the Oshkosh MCWS onto three Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCTs) as well as technical and logistics support. We are pleased to share that this work will be conducted right here in Oshkosh, Wisconsin," Bryant said.
Production for the new postal vehicles in Spartanburg, South Carolina is expected to begin in the summer of 2023.
