NewsRegionWayne County

Actions

Ford celebrates Rouge Factory turning 100-years-old

Posted at 5:27 PM, Sep 27, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-27 20:16:10-04

Ford is celebrating a milestone today.

The company’s Rouge factory in Dearborn turns 100.

Celebrating 100 years at Ford’s Rouge factory means looking at the past and while keeping your eyes on the future.

Bill Ford said,“I love this place.”

The party started in the early morning hours with a drone light show.

The 100th-anniversary celebration is the perfect place to announce its future, which includes a technology center.

Starting in 2020, the factory will build hybrid F-150’s.

“The Rouge really has always been part of our future whether it’s the environmental future or the product future.”

The company’s history doesn’t just run down the factory line, but also through the employee's veins.

Ford calls this a family business.

“It’s not just my family there’s so many people who’ve come up to me today and said, ‘I’m third generation. I’m fourth generation. My aunt knew your father. My grandmother worked with your grandfather.’ I love that.”

86-year-old Willie Fulton is the longest working employee in the company.

He’s been working at the plant for 65 years.

Fulton’s first paycheck was less than $2 an hour; he says he makes much more than that now.

He doesn’t have plans to retire any time soon.

“Ford is a family, so that’s what made me stay at Ford,” Fulton added.