Visit this state-of-the-art facility and hear firsthand the powerful story of its remarkable turnaround!

You and up to 23 other people get the VIP tour of the Ford Louisville Assembly Plant.  The same tour that US Secretary of Labor, Tom Perez received. Lunch will also be provided.

In 2007, the Ford Motor Co.'s plant in Louisville, Ky., was staring at an existential crisis. It was on the verge of being shuttered. The jobs there; jobs that sustained middle-class families and communities throughout Louisville, were this close to being lost.

So what did Ford management and the United Auto Workers do? Instead of turning on each other, they turned toward one another. They rolled up their sleeves and launched difficult but constructive negotiations. Ultimately, they hammered out a collective bargaining agreement that not only kept the doors open but restructured plant operations to make it one of the most advanced manufacturing facilities in the world.

They made safety a top priority. They empowered their workforce. And instead of losing jobs, they've added them in droves from 900 employees to 4,400 and growing. And that doesn't even capture the overall local economic impact. Ford estimates that for each job created at the plant, approximately 10 more jobs are generated in the Louisville-area economy at stores, restaurants and elsewhere.

Today the plant is open 7 days a week and is a model of innovation, efficiency and flexibility. It is more productive and profitable than ever before. Morale is high. Assembly line workers are well-trained in sophisticated automated systems essential to modern auto production. Cars and trucks that people around the world want to buy are flying off the line in a new Escape every 45 seconds.  They also will be building the Lincoln MKC that was debuted at the NY Auto Show in December 2013.