Oshkosh evaluates job needs after $1B contract

Published: July 2, 2009
Tags: Army, Defense Department, military, Oshkosh Corp.

Dinesh Ramde
AP Business Writer

Milwaukee — Oshkosh Corp. said Wednesday that it’s too early to know how many jobs its new billion-dollar military contract will create but stressed that the number will be “significant.”

The contract awarded Tuesday to the Oshkosh-based company calls for 2,244 mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, or MRAPs. The Defense Department said it urgently needs strong protective trucks that are light and can maneuver Afghanistan’s rocky terrain.

Oshkosh, which has about 12,000 employees worldwide, is evaluating its needs this week to see how many new hires will be needed, said Robert Bohn, the company’s chairman and chief executive.

“It will depend on volume and production pace,” Bohn said. “I can’t go out and put those (hiring) numbers out there right now but I can tell you it will be significant. We should have those numbers in a few days.”

The company had a pair of two-day furloughs at a number of its plants this year. It also laid off some workers, although a spokesman could not immediately say how many.

Oshkosh Mayor Paul Esslinger cheered the contract, calling the $1.1 billion contract “staggering.”

“I think it’s a testament to the quality of businesses here in Oshkosh,” he said. “We can tout that we have companies that are known around the world.”

He declined to say what effect the contract might have on the city, saying he was waiting to talk to the company about its future hiring and spending plans.

Gov. Jim Doyle also called Oshkosh’s contract “great news for Wisconsin. It’s a tremendous tribute to a company that’s innovative and very nimble.”

Doyle said he had conversations with the company early in the process of seeking the contract, but he did not detail what assistance the state gave to Oshkosh for the bid.

The other beneficiary of the military contract is the town of McConnellsburg, Pa. That’s where JLG Industries Inc., the Oshkosh subsidiary that will help build the new trucks, is headquartered.

Within the past year JLG laid off more than 2,000 people, or half its worldwide work force. The contract means JLG will be able to bring back an unspecified number of those employees, Bohn said. But plans to close a plant in Oakes, N.D., which has 61 employees, remain unchanged.

Oshkosh Corp. beat out three teams for the vehicle deal, including: BAE Systems, the U.S. subsidiary of British defense conglomerate BAE Systems PLC; Navistar International Corp.; and Force Dynamics, a joint venture between Force Protection Inc. and General Dynamics Corp.

The message Bohn shared with his employees was that Oshkosh competed against “the big boys” and won with a superior product.

“We now get the privilege to build next generation of mobility vehicles for the war in Afghanistan,” he said.

“It feels good.”

AP reporter Scott Bauer in Madison contributed to this story.

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