Brake factory in Findlay needs 100 more workers - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

An auto supplier in Findlay plans to hire 100 more employees.

According to the mayor of Findlay, the brake factory needs more people to keep up with orders from its largest customer: Honda.

Dealerships are also feeling the pressure to keep up with demand. Honda's US sales rose nearly 13 percent last month compared to January of 2012.

The Nissin brake factory in Findlay needs at least 100 more workers and possibly a fourth shift.

That's what the plant's general manager announced at a Rotary Club meeting this week.

"We're super happy," says Mayor Lydia Mihalik (R-Findlay). " Nissin is a great success story. Back in the 1980's it started with something like 40 employees."

Today the GM of the plant at Tall Timbers Industrial Park is on his way to Japan where Nissin is headquartered.

The company now employs more than one thousand people in Findlay.    

Those folks are working overtime to keep up with brake orders from Nissin's largest customer: Honda.

"Most of our suppliers in town are doing very well and it just has to do with the fact that the automotive market is so good," says Mihalik.

From the supply factor to the dealership floor, workers across the board are feeling the surge in demand for Honda vehicles.    

A sales executive at the Honda dealership in Findlay says 2012 was its best sales year ever.

Thayer Honda in Bowling Green is also seeing growth.

"It's doing great on the floor. Sales have picked up in the last two years. We're kicking butt," says Tim Hernandez, the General Manager of Thayer Honda in Bowling Green.

The mayor of Findlay accounts the up tick to rebuilding after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011.

"There was some flooding that happened in Thailand that also decreased production, but they're making a comeback," says Mihalik.

The GM of Thayer says it's the new Accord and CRV.

"Honda is always a great product built right here in Ohio and great people building the vehicles," says Hernandez.

The GM of Nissin in Findlay didn't give a specific timetable, but told the Rotary Club he wants to hire at least one hundred more workers in the coming months, according to the mayor.