Small auto-parts firms struggle with GM move

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, June, 2009 | by Harold Brubaker Inquirer Staff Writer

For small manufacturers dependent on automakers for their livelihoods, yesterday's General Motors Corp. bankruptcy was one more blow in a series that has had many of them clinging to a single hope: outlasting their rivals to emerge with orders in hand when the auto industry turns around.

"I'm hanging on. I'm trying to survive to reap some of the rewards," said Linda Macht, president of Tottser Tool & Manufacturing, of Huntingdon Valley.

Macht, who succeeded her father as president of the metal fabricator in 1994, said Tottser counts on automakers for 80 percent to 90 percent of its business. Because of the auto-industry slump, her workforce is down to 30 from 65.

"I was a $10 million company. I'm lucky if hit five this year," she said.

Macht's biggest...