Former Arvin Meritor employee William Whited stands outside the plant where he worked. William's father helped build the structure on top of the building (shown in background) that moved transformers. (Photo by April Knox)
Former Arvin Meritor employee William Whited stands outside the plant where he worked. William's father helped build the structure on top of the building (shown in background) that moved transformers. (Photo by April Knox)
Impact muted
Franklin's planning director said the loss of 850 jobs when the Arvin plant closed was offset partially by expansions of other businesses.
  • Auto parts maker Aisin U.S.A. and Interstate Warehousing, a frozen food products company, added jobs.
  • Two new plants in the Franklin Industrial Park, north of the former Arvin plant, are coming.
  • The city's largest employer is KYB, which makes shocks and struts. The company is under construction to more than double its capacity and plans to hire about 50 more workers, at which point it will employ more than 700
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    By Boris Ladwig, The Republic City Editor

    Third of a four-part series

    FRANKLIN - Much of William Whited's life revolved around the Arvin plant on Franklin's northeast side.

    His grandfather, Gene Whited, had worked there. His uncle, Wilbert Woodrum, worked there. His father, Junior Whited, retired from there after 42 years.

    William Whited, a tool-and-die maker by trade, had worked at the plant 32 years when it closed in 2004. His first stint in 1964 was interrupted when he got drafted.

    From 1972 on, he worked as spot-welder, he set up machines and completed an apprenticeship in tool-and-die making.

    He became active in the union and served as its president for the last 2½ years before production was halted.

    For about 70 years, the plant had supported families in and around Franklin, in latter years producing exhaust systems for major automotive companies.

    With a staff of 850, it was Franklin's largest employer when it closed. About 750 of the employees were part of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 2993.

    Whited has few good words for Meritor Automotive Inc., the commercial vehicle parts supplier that merged with Columbus-based Arvin Inc. in 2000 and decided in 2004 to close the Franklin plant.

    "I ... feel that Meritor took Arvin, sucked them dry and threw them to the dogs," Whited said recently.

    When the companies merged, the executives told employees not to worry and that plenty of job opportunities would be available, he said.

    V. William Hunt, Arvin's chairman, president and chief executive officer, told The Republic when the merger was announced that he did not expect any layoffs as a result of the merger.

    But four months after shareholders of both companies approved the union, ArvinMeritor Inc. announced it would cut 1,500 jobs due to "weak market conditions" and "post merger initiatives to combine facilities."

    That announcement was soon followed by further restructuring actions, including job cuts and the sale and closing of businesses and operations in Ohio, Utah, Tennessee, Columbus and Franklin.

    "These decisions are never easy, but they are necessary if we are to remain competitive," Juan De La Riva, president of the company's Light Vehicle Systems group, said at the time the Franklin closing was announced

    "We must continuously reduce costs, align production with demand and improve our processes to ensure the long-term viability of the business."

    Some of the Franklin employees went to work for ArvinMeritor at the Gladstone plant in Columbus; some took early retirement; some were left jobless.

    Whited, 58 at the time, said he took early retirement with a four-year penalty.

    For the last 1½ years, the Whiteland resident has worked for Edinburgh manufacturer Sacoma.

    He's glad to have a job, but he said he makes $4 less per hour and the benefits don't come close to what he had at Arvin. He had four weeks vacation there. Now he gets one.

    "That's what happened to a lot of them that didn't go to Gladstone," he said.

    He runs into some of his old comrades every once in a while.

    Especially the old-timers - and there were a lot of them - say their new jobs are more demanding, that their employers frown on too many doctor appointments, especially on weekdays, Whited said.

    Other businesses have suffered, too, he said. Some bars and restaurants that were supported by the Arvin crowd have closed or reduced their hours.

    The Corner Café, for example, about two blocks from the plant, depended on Arvin employees for lunch and dinner business.

    It's a blue-collar joint, with the obligatory pool table, jukebox and dartboards. It is known for its cheeseburgers and hot wings and generates half its revenues from food, the other from beer and liquor.

    Arvin employees also came for the specials, such as a sandwich with two sides plus soda for $4.

    But since the Arvin plant's demise, business has plunged about 70 percent, said Janet Parton, who has owned the place for more than 23 years.

    "The last year was really hard," she said. "We always survived by Arvin."

    Parton said she has cut her staff, cut the hours of the remaining employees and has had to change her business approach to include more promotions and specials. And she's started hosting karaoke.

    She rarely sees former Arvin employees.

    "A lot of them didn't live here," she said.

    They would stop by for lunch or after work before going home to Martinsville, Shelbyville and Greenwood.

    A lot of them worked at the plant for 25 years or more, she said.

    "They gave their life to the company.

    Franklin Mayor Brenda Jones-Matthews said, "When you lose that many jobs, it's a huge effect on the community.

    "People never thought that plant would close."

    Yet, even Whited said his initial anger and disappointment have subsided somewhat.

    "It wasn't as big a devastation (as) we figured it would be," he said.

    He is glad to see the building is housing some new businesses.

    Jones-Matthews, mayor since June 2005, said the facility holds smaller companies engaged in logistics and vinyl extrusion - though employment is nowhere near 850.

    Joe Csikos, Franklin's director of planning, said the closing shocked everyone initially.

    However, its repercussions have been muted by expansions of other businesses, such as auto parts maker Aisin U.S.A. and Interstate Warehousing, a frozen food products company.

    Two more plants in the Franklin Industrial Park, north of the former Arvin plant, are coming. One will provide hydraulic assemblies for Toyota, including the forklift plant near Walesboro.

    "We haven't seen tremendous long-term effects," Csikos said.

    But for Whited, thoughts of the Arvin plant, its history and his family's connection to it, elicit a sentimental yearning to an unrecoverable period.

    Most people in Franklin have some connection to the plant, he said. If they didn't work there themselves, one of their family members or friends probably did.

    When a plant like that closes, he says, it also affects the community in ways that cannot be counted or seen.

    Coming Wednesday: What's ahead for the former Arvin plants in Columbus?
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