Brunswick to close boat plants early
Lake Forest, Ill. — A worsening global economic condition is prompting Brunswick Corp. to shut down four fiberglass boat manufacturing plants earlier than expected.
The Lake Forest-based company will now close plants in Navassa, N.C.; Roseburg, Ore.; and Arlington, Wash., by the end of this year; and a facility in Pipestone, Minn., in early 2009. When Brunswick first announced its fiberglass boat consolidation plan in June, it had set the closure date for the end of 2009.
``We are living and working in the most turbulent economic times in recent history,'' said Dunstan McCoy in an Oct. 9 news release. ``The poor economy and the accompanying weak consumer sentiment have pressured marine markets, eroding the demand for boats and engines these past few months at a swifter pace than originally anticipated.''
The closures will cut 1,450 jobs.
Three other fiberglass boat plants near Knoxville, Tenn., also will close temporarily for the rest of 2008, starting the week of Oct. 27; but work from the four closed sites will be transferred to those plants during the shutdown, the company said.
MFG consolidation to result in layoffs
Ashtabula, Ohio — Molded Fiber Glass Cos. is consolidating its manufacturing operations in Ashtabula, to help it cope with higher energy costs and lower consumer demand.
The company will turn its original plant in Ashtabula, built in 1948, into a warehouse and office facility and move manufacturing located there into a nearby plant acquired in 1979, said President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Morrison.
The switch will require laying off a few employees but will improve the bottom line, he said in an Oct. 17 telephone interview. Morrison would not specify how many jobs will be cut.
Ashtabula-based MFG makes auto parts and consumer products at the two plants. While demand for those composite parts may be down, Morrison said the firms diversification into other industries is giving it the ability to tap into growing fields, including wind energy. MFG opened a plant earlier this year in Aberdeen, S.D., to make blades and other parts for wind turbines.
Window maker WeatherSeal shuts down
Ortonville, Iowa — Ortonville-based Monarch Holdings Inc. has shut down subsidiary American WeatherSeal Co., an Orrville, Ohio-based vinyl window and door manufacturer.
About 100 employees were laid off, according to a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification Act filing with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
``The decision to close this facility and our inability to provide more advance notice was the result of a number of sudden and unanticipated events, including a loss of liquidity, inability to effectuate adequate refinancing, and the unprecedented deterioration of market conditions with no foreseeable improvement in sight,'' Monarch President Larry Haberman said in the WARN filing. Haberman could not be reached for comment.
Online magazine Building-Products.com reported that Monarch and its operating divisions have filed for Chapter 11 protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. According to Building-Products.com, Monarch blames its financial troubles on expensive lawsuits it assumed three years ago when it acquired Medford, Wis..-based Hurd Millwork Co. Inc., which was accused of making defective insulated windows in the late 1990s.
New Frontier slated for Nov. 18 auction
Milton, N.H. — Recycler and extruder New Frontier Industries Inc., which made interlocking deck panels and profiles for roadside sound barriers, is out of business.
The Milton-based company's assets are slated for public auction Nov. 18. The sale is being coordinated by North Hampton, N.H.-based auctioneer Paul McInnis Inc.
New Frontier, founded in 2003, extruded Verduradek-brand interlocking deck boards and Everquiet-brand barrier wall panels from post-consumer mixed plastics, McInnis said. The firm operated out of a 20,000-square-foot plant on 9.3 acres in Milton.
``This is an opportunity to come in and reposition this company that has a pretty good product,'' he said Oct. 17 by phone. ``If nobody comes for that purpose, we'll continue to liquidate it.''
The plant houses one twin- and two single-screw extruders and auxiliary equipment, as well as blending, grinding, shredding and metal separating machines.
Company officials could not be reached for comment.