Kelsey Mays
Cars.com

Greensburg High had a breakout basketball season last year: The Pirates nabbed a regional title and advanced to within one game of the state championships. For the 150-year-old seat of Decatur County, it was good news to cheer about. The worst recession in decades had forced companies like Indianapolis-based Delta Faucet to lay off 265 employees at its Greensburg facility last spring.

But the Pirates’ hometown has one more thing going for it: the $550 million Honda assembly plant just off Interstate 74, north of downtown.

Honda opened the plant to build the compact Civic last year. Some residents demurred when the plant came to town, but many were in favor — including some 300 who staged a human “H” photo-op on the city’s courthouse steps to welcome the automaker in 2006.

“It was a community effort to get them here,” said Jerome Buening, Decatur County Board of Commissioners president. “The county and the city both lobbied very hard, and [Honda] saw something they liked here.”

The assembly plant employs around 1,000 workers, and at full production it could employ double that. Civic production began in October 2008; last month, Honda announced plans to build Civics for export here, as well.

However, Honda hasn’t been the boom to Greensburg that some hoped it would be.

“A lot of people thought there would be a lot more secondary jobs,” said Jaime Newell, a salesman at Schreiber Lumber Inc., a lumber supplier in Greensburg. “The younger generation is all excited about it.”

Co-worker Rick Cook agrees.

“We were hearing a lot about a boom: There was going to be a lot of people moving in, a lot of homes to be built,” Cook said. “That has not necessarily happened yet.”

On Michigan Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares, Terry Powell and his son, Mark, opened a Buffalo Wings & Rings franchise in late 2007. Both were counting on Honda to help the restaurant grow.

“Initially, we benefited greatly from Honda’s construction,” Terry Powell said. “There was a slowdown afterward.”

“No doubt we haven’t achieved a level of sales we thought we would,” Powell said. “We over-projected. We don’t blame Honda for that; it’s a trickle-down effect. They haven’t sold as many cars. They haven’t been able to hire the additional shift.”

Rick Schostek, vice president at Honda Manufacturing of Indiana, concedes that times are tough.

“I think our hope, from Honda’s point of view, is that we get to see some signs of stability in this economy, in the market here,” Schostek said. “There’s no denying the fact that all automakers are going through tough times right now.”

Buening’s nervous about the community hanging its hat on an industry that’s in such turmoil. Given the condition of the auto industry, few blame Honda for the smaller-than-expected impact. GM and Chrysler gone into and out of bankruptcy, and even Toyota has posted North American operating losses for four consecutive quarters. Honda remains in the black, however, and Civic sales — boosted by the federal government’s Cash for Clunkers program — were up some 50 percent year over year in August.

“Honda is a very good anchor,” Buening said. “The automotive parts suppliers that were already in the area had kind of experienced a downturn just recently, but I think it would have been much more severe had Honda not been here.”

Schreiber Lumber’s Cook agrees.

“When they said they were making the Civic here, as opposed to something larger or less fuel-efficient, we felt like we have a plant that is going to be here for a long time,” he said. “This recession would have hit us a lot harder if Honda were not here.”

It doesn’t seem to matter that Honda isn’t from Detroit – even as taxpayers have become de facto part-owners of GM and Chrysler.

“We don’t feel tied to [GM or Chrysler] because it’s still the government as a whole, and we don’t feel closely tied to the government as a whole,” Cook said. “We do feel tied to Honda, though, and we are glad that they’re here. So I would say if I were making a purchasing decision, I would lean toward the one that’s here, that’s being built by my friends and neighbors, and not something that’s controlled by the government.”

Residents are counting on Honda to lead the area’s recovery, and, as Decatur County tourism director Melanie Maxwell puts it, some may be too impatient.

“People were expecting more growth right away,” Maxwell said. “If you looked at Georgetown [Ky.] and Princeton [Ind.], it wasn’t an immediate boom. It was kind of here, and it kept growing over time.”

Georgetown and Princeton are home to major Toyota assembly plants. Both took some time to affect their communities, Maxwell said.

It’s easy to see why some residents are impatient. The effects of recent layoffs show up in Decatur County’s 11.7 percent unemployment rate in August. That’s down from July, but it’s nearly double the rate from a year ago, Greensburg Mayor Gary Herbert said.

“I think it’s going to be about a 10-year process to see where we’re going to be,” Maxwell said. “A lot of people are looking and thinking, ‘Oh, thank God we got Honda instead of GM or one of the other companies.’ ”

Buffalo Wings & Rings’ Powell has similar sentiments.

“As they grow out to second and third shifts, the economy will rebound,” Powell said. “Frankly, I’m confident that it’s a big Honda plant and not a big GM plant.”

Back in Greensburg, support for the so-called “transplants” transcends the business community. Just look at the Pirates.

The team played their semifinal game against the undefeated Princeton Tigers. The dueling mayors arranged a bet: The loser would have to drive the rival company’s car.

Princeton beat Greensburg 66-56 and went on to win the 3A state championship in double overtime.

If you were in Greensburg during the final week of March, you may have caught a glimpse of Herbert driving a blue Toyota Yaris. It’s not a car Toyota builds in the U.S., but in a pinch it would have to do.

Next: Lafeyette and the Subaru Survival Story

Previously: Hoosiers Sharply Divided Over Bailouts