Auto fallout would hurt in W. Mich.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Ask 18-year auto industry worker Ron Edwards about the potential impact of a General Motors bankruptcy and he'll tell you: it's a very big problem.

It might not seem to be a very direct problem for someone like Edwards. Much of the parts he makes at GR Spring and Stamping end up in vehicles produced by Nissan and Toyota.

But Edwards is still watching GM, knowing just how interconnected the 21st-century auto industry is.

"Some very prominent analysts have said that if General Motors does go this way and it's not handled properly, Ford's not very far behind," said analyst Kim Korth, president of IRN. "And if Ford's not very far behind then you do put at least Honda if not Toyota at risk." 

That's because the firms making cars in the U.S. -- whether foreign or domestic -- use many of the same suppliers. A GM failure could put GM suppliers at risk, and if those suppliers can't stay in business it could threaten the other domestic and foreign firms.

"To think that it's just at the General Motors level is phenomenally naive," Korth told 24 Hour News 8.

The industry employs 443,700 people in Michigan, according to the latest numbers from the state.  That's a number roughly equal to the populations of Grand Rapids, Kentwood, Walker, Wyoming, Kalamazoo and Holland.

West Michigan is certainly not as dependent on the auto industry for employment as the east side of the state, and while neither the state nor local economic groups we contacted track employment in the region, it is significant.

"It still has to be one of the biggest industries represented in West Michigan," Korth said.

Along with GR Spring and Stamping, Gill Industries, Meridian, Bentler, Lear and Lacks are among the Grand Rapids-area firms depending in part on the industry. In Ottawa County, it's names like GHST, Gentex, Johnson Controls, Magna and Shape Corp.

In the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek area, firms like Bentler, Dana, Denso and Koyo rely on the industry for at least part of their revenue.

And economists say there is a ripple effect:  the people who make cars and car parts buy food, buy gas, buy clothes. A recent study from the Center for Automotive Research concluded that if the three Detroit automakers fail entirely, it would amount to a loss of 3 million jobs around the country.

It's why some have pushed for a bailout, a move workers are watching.

"They need it, but you know, is it really going to help?" Edwards said. 

Korth said she expects some aid plan for the automakers to come within the next few weeks.