A lack of financing spurred EverGreen Recreational Vehicles’ plans to close its Middlebury operation, the company said in a notice filed this week with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
The RV manufacturer, which touted itself as an environmentally friendly, cutting-edge firm, let workers go and closed its doors last week, former employees and Elkhart County government officials said. EverGreen officials, however, had remained quiet, not responding to media inquiries on developments.
But in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notfication Act notice, EverGreen Chief Financial Officer Joseph Katona shed some light on what’s happening, saying that about 270 workers were to be terminated, mostly by June 24. The letter, dated Tuesday and received by the DWD on Wednesday, cited failed attempts to secure financing to aid the company.
“Over the last several months, EverGreen...has been actively seeking capital or business to continue its operations,” Katona said in the WARN notice. But the push for financing and refinancing via creditors and lenders weren’t successful.
“Despite EverGreen RV’s commercially reasonable efforts, EverGreen RV has been unable to obtain the necessary financing or business to continue its operations,” the letter said. It went on, saying it was “permanently closing” the facility at 10758 C.R. 2, north of Middlebury.
The headcount of workers to be let go actually adds up to 287, according to a supporting document with the WARN notice. EverGreen said in the document that 180 workers were laid off on June 10 and that 61 more workers will be let go on Friday. Forty-two will be laid off on June 24 and four more will be let go on July 1.