No relief for auto suppliers during GM bankruptcy

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Newschannel 3) - Many local auto suppliers have a tough road ahead of them, as they will have very little or no business during General Motors' two- to three-month bankruptcy.

Those that have survived thus far have already scaled back, like Grand Rapids Spring and Stamping, where more than 100 employees have been cut from the workforce.

Still, Grand Rapids Spring and Stamping owner Jim Zawacki has been recognized for keeping his business afloat, as he was just named Michigan's Manufacturer of the Year. And that's due in part to the company's ability to diversify; parts production for what was the Big Three now only makes up 20 percent of their business.

Still, that doesn't make the bankruptcy news any easier to swallow.

"GM was the mighty company, and to see them file for bankruptcy scares a lot of people," Zawacki told Newschannel 3.

Since December of last year, there has been a dramatic decline in parts ordered, and while auto analyst Jim Gillette says that won't change any time soon, GM likely included a critical vendor safeguard in it's bankruptcy plan.

But that doesn't mean auto supply companies will be able to skate through GM's bankruptcy.

"I don't think that we'll see any uptick of part orders or manufacturing orders for a while, things will be very tight," said Gillette.