Truth Staff
ATLANTA -- As part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Atlantis Plastics has filed notices with the state of Indiana that its three facilities in Elkhart, Ind., could be closing, eliminating 170 positions.
Atlantis is looking to sell its assets and has reached a definitive agreement with a subsidiary of Monomoy Capital Partners to buy the assets of its Molded Plastics Products business which includes the Elkhart plants.
In 2007, Monomoy tried to come to Elkhart County in a deal for its subsidiary Western Recreational Vehicles Inc. to acquire Middlebury RV manufacturer Pilgrim International. That deal eventually fell through for undisclosed reasons.
Since Atlantis cannot predict what the potential buyer will do with the operations, the company sent Workers' Adjustment and Retraining Notification letters to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. The possible new owner may decide to keep the Elkhart plants open, said Michelle Ebbitt, senior manager of human resources at Atlantis, but as a "precautionary heads up," the company did turn in the WARN notices.
Ebbitt said the letters were addressing the "total complete worse case scenario" of what could happen.
The company told the state the closure and termination of employee positions could occur around Oct. 31.
Indiana Secretary of Commerce Nate Feltman said the state would be contacting Atlantis to see what could be done to keep the jobs here. The state has few tools to assist companies in trouble, he said, but, if needed, the state will mobilize resources to help any workers who lose their jobs.
In Elkhart, the company has two profile extrusion plants, which primarily serve the recreational vehicle industry, and one injection molding plant. Atlantis has recorded a steady decline in the gross margins from the profile extrusion operations that, the company, in its 2006 annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, blamed on "significant weakness" in the RV sector and "manufacturing inefficiencies" at the Elkhart facilities.