At 7:50 Thursday morning, one of the most important chapter’s in the Decatur County history book began.

Two years, three months, 10 days, 22 hours and 50 minutes after Honda officials made their announcement to build a new auto assembly plant in a cornfield north of Greensburg, the first 4-cylinder Civic Sedan made by Hoosier hands rolled off the line, driven into a crowd of ecstatic associates by employee Eugenia Olson of Milroy.

“There was tremendous excitement in the air. I know all the associates, all 870, have been chomping at the bit for this moment. When Eugenia drove the Civic off the line, the excitement in the air was almost electric,” Rick Schostek, vice president of Honda Manufacturing of Indiana (HMIN), said.

The vehicle, known as VIN #1, will be placed in the lobby of the welcome center as a piece of what Schostek said will be HMIN’s rich history in Decatur County. The crystal pearl black Civic made by Hoosiers, most of whom hail from the Marion and Decatur county areas, according to HMIN corporate spokesman Andrew Stoner, signifies the local plants role in the Honda company.

“With continued high demand for the Honda Civic, we are honored and excited to help meet the needs of our customers in North America,” Yuzo Uenohara, president of HMIN, said in a press release from the company. “Our new Indiana associates are dedicated to building the very best Honda products, with customer satisfaction as our top goal.”

The associates didn’t just celebrate and quit for the day. Schostek said VIN #2 and more were waiting to be removed from the line and shipped to dealers.

“There were cars behind (the first one) on the line, and that line is running right now,” Schostek said. “The pre-season has ended, and the regular season has started.”

Schostek said HMIN will take it slow at first. Currently the output will be about 12 per day. That will increase to about 400 per shift by the beginning of 2009. When the second shift is added a little later that year, the capacity will be at 800, which will take the facility to 200,000 vehicles produced annually for Honda of North America.

The first shipment, however, shouldn’t leave for a few weeks, he said. The delivery will also likely be made by semi-truck, which will allot for 20 percent of the deliveries. When production increases, the train deliveries will begin, and the locomotives will carry 80 percent of the vehicles produced. The delivery methods and load numbers, Schostek said, will be determined by demand.

The Civic is one of the best-selling cars in North America, according to AutoNews.com. Despite a currently rocky economy, Schostek said he felt it was a bump in the road and the future on the horizon ahead was bright.

“The economy is big challenge for all auto manufacturers, and Honda is no exception. We hope this is just a short-term thing,” Schostek said. “This facility is here for the long term. We plan to be here for many years to come.”

Thursday’s success, he said was attributable to the “enthusiastic, highly-skilled, hard-working and dedicated associates,” and they will determine the future growth of HMIN. Several months and numerous practices cars went into the completion of VIN #1, he noted, and the local associates desire to perfect their skills led to today. Schostek said each plant and its associates were unique, and HMIN had the benefit of learning from other facilities that have had time to hone their practices and implement ideas.

“In my opinion, this plant should be the best of the best,” Schostek said.