By Boris Ladwig, The Republic
bladwig@therepublic.com
EDINBURGH - The former Lear Corp. factory in Edinburgh, the town's largest employer and a mainstay since before World War II, will close next year, eliminating roughly 400 jobs.
"When you have a plant this size close, it kind of puts a shadow across the entire town," said John Drybread, a member of the Edinburgh Town Council and superintendent of the Municipal Utilities office.
International Automotive Components, which bought 26 of Lear's facilities this year, plans to close the 200,000-square-foot facility in the second quarter of next year to reduce the plants since summer 2005 because they were losing money.
The Edinburgh plant makes auto parts, including door trim and instrument panels, for General Motors and Chrysler.
The facility was opened in 1939 as Amos Plastics.
"This was a difficult decision for the organization. We are grateful to our employees and the Edinburgh community for their loyalty," said IAC spokeswoman Emily Drake. "We will work closely with local union representation toward a smooth transition for employees."
Drake said it was "too soon to tell" what exactly would happen to the employees.
Details on severance packages and where the production would be moved have not been determined, Drake said.
Union officials are preparing to negotiate severance packages, benefits extensions and preferential hiring at other IAC facilities, said David Quillen, the plant's union president.
IAC is a global supplier of automotive components and systems. It has manufacturing operations in 14 countries, generates annual revenues of more than $4 billion and employs 20,000.
The company's closest plants to Edinburgh are in Greencastle and Sidney, Ohio.
Devastating
Drybread said the job loss and psychological toll on Edinburgh will be devastating.
The plant was among Johnson County's top 12 taxpayers, used almost a quarter of the electricity sold in Edinburgh and, as a United Auto Workers facility, provided good wages and benefits, he said.
The plant also pulled employees from Jackson, Shelby, Bartholomew and other nearby counties.
"It's going to have an impact larger than us," Drybread said.
"It's going to be devastating not only to Edinburgh, but to Johnson County, agreed Cheryl Morphew, executive director of Franklin-based Johnson County Development Corp.
Drybread, a former director of manufacturing at Cummins, from which he retired after 30 years, knows the impact that these announcements can have, particularly in a small town such as Edinburgh with a population of about 4,500.
The IAC plant employs husbands and wives and has fed generations of Edinburgh's residents, Drybread said.
As Edinburgh's oldest plant, it anchored the town, and most people don't know the town without it, he said.
"I think it's tough for people to (realize) that that's actually going to close. It's something that I'm sure is very sad for a whole lot of folks."
Focus: providing help
During his tenure with Cummins, Drybread was involved in several plant closings and openings. He knows the difficulties that some of the employees, especially the older ones, will face.
"I think it's going to the real tough on them," he said.
That's why Drybread and Morphew have focused on getting local, regional and state officials and organizations involved to secure training and job opportunities for IAC's employees.
Morphew said she hopes that with help from Gov. Mitch Daniels and other officials, Indiana Department of Workforce Development and state training grants, the employees will have options before they lose their jobs.
"Johnson County's been booming," she said.
Nestle just announced a bottling facility for Greenwood, for example, she said, and the U.S. 31/Interstate 65 interchange near the Johnson/Bartholomew counties border has seen significant growth.
Also, Honda has yet to hire roughly 2,000 workers for a Civic plant in Greensburg, and Cummins before 2010 will need about 700 employees for Plant 1 in Columbus for a light-duty diesel project.
Given the closing's advance notice and available help, many employees can prepare for the closing and improve their chances of finding a new job, the city and county leaders hope.
"We're doing what we can," said Drybread.
He hopes Edinburgh quickly can attract another manufacturer to the IAC location.
Morphew understands what IAC's employees are experiencing. Years ago, she was "downsized" by the former Indiana Gas, now Vectren Corp.
"It's never easy," she said. "But you can survive it."