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Ford, one of the largest employers in the Calumet Region, is going to pay out $9,000 profit-sharing bonuses to thousands of local workers this week in what amounts to a pre-tax $49.5 million injection of cash into the local economy.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker will pay the second-best profit sharing bonuses in company history Friday to about 4,200 workers at the Chicago Assembly Plant in Hegewisch and another 1,300 at the Chicago Stamping Plant in Chicago Heights. It's down slightly from the record $9,300 Ford's 56,000 United Autoworkers-represented employees took home last year.

Ford reported a 2016 profit of $4.6 billion, or about $1.15 per share, last year.

"Ford’s 2016 financial performance builds on the all-time record the company set in 2015 and underscores the substantial progress we are making as we expand to be an auto and a mobility company," spokeswoman Lloryn Love-Carter said.

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