By ANNIE GOELLER, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
Nearly 400 people will lose their jobs and benefits and the county will lose one of its largest employers when an Edinburgh manufacturing plant closes next year.
International Automotive Components, formerly Lear Corp., will close by spring or early summer, company officials announced Tuesday.
Job reductions will be gradual and will not start immediately, a company spokeswoman said.
The factory, which opened in 1939 as Amos Plastics, supplies General Motors and Chrysler with components such as vehicle door trim and instrument panels. Company officials don't know yet if the work will be transferred to another facility.
Workers were notified in a meeting Monday.
The closing announcement, which had been rumored for weeks, is prompting concerns among workers who will need to find new jobs and a last-ditch effort by a state representative and local economic development leaders to keep the company here.
Company officials decided to close the 200,000-square-foot facility because, with this plant, the company has the capacity to produce more parts than are needed by the companies they supply.
"As our customer needs shift, our production must fluctuate as well to operate in the most efficient manner," said Emily Drake, a spokeswoman for the company.
The closing is the latest in a string of announcements by the county's largest employers.
In 2002, the Kawneer Co. factory in Franklin closed, eliminating 225 jobs. Then in 2004, the Franklin ArvinMeritor plant closed, and 850 people lost their jobs. Around the same time, hundreds were laid off from their jobs at Best Buy distribution center and Alpine Electronics Manufacturing in Greenwood.
The plastic injection molding facility in Edinburgh is one of the few companies in the county that employ more than 300 people.
State Rep. Milo Smith, R-Columbus, wants to keep those jobs here and has contacted the governor's office for help.
He is working with the Johnson County Development Corp. and wants the state to offer its help to keep the company and its jobs in Edinburgh. development corporation executive director Cheryl Morphew didn't know what that help would include.
Smith wants the state to treat the company as if it were bringing 400 new jobs to the county and do everything possible to get the jobs.
"Let's go after this company like they're new, coming to town," he said.
Town and state officials are working to bring training and help for employees looking for new jobs.
Union officials are preparing to negotiate severance packages, benefits extensions and preferential hiring for current employees at other International Automotive Components facilities, said David Quillen, union president at the plant.
The bargaining process is to begin in the next 30 days, Drake said.
When the facility was purchased this year, International Automotive Components officials planned on plant consolidations and plant closings, Quillen said.
"But you never think it's going to be you," he said.
The Edinburgh plant is small compared to other company-owned facilities and has no room to expand. The company decided to move the production lines to another plant that has extra space, Quillen said.
He said he appreciates that the company gave employees at least six months to look for other work.
Workers can get training, prepare their resumes and look for work without feeling as rushed as if the company waited to make the announcement, he said.
The state department of workforce development is setting up a meeting with the company to organize training sessions, resume workshops and education on unemployment insurance, said Joe DiLaura, spokesman for the department.
"There is a number of months to react to this," said John Drybread, Edinburgh town utility manager.
The loss of the plant, which is the largest employer in Edinburgh, will have an effect on property taxes, utility profits and residents, he said.
The plant is 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 been here as far as most people can remember. It's a pretty big impact on this town," Drybread said.
The plant, at 600 S. Kyle St., has been in the town since it started as Amos Plastics in 1939 and has changed hands at least five times, workers said.
Workers, such as Edinburgh resident Missy Willard, worry about how big the impact could be.
"I think it'll devastate Edinburgh," she said.
Drybread said his hope is to look for another company that can move into the plant, pay the taxes and utility costs the company now pays and keep at least some of the employees.
Workers hope for the same.
"I'm keeping hope, hope someone will buy us and keep us open," said Becky Smith, an Edinburgh resident who has worked at the plant for 31 years.
The company pays better than many others in the area, workers said.
Drake would not release the average pay or pay ranges, but Willard said employees start at more than $11 per hour and most make about $13.77 per hour.
Benefits also are better than at other companies, said Janna Milburn. When the Columbus woman had her first child, the company paid 100 percent of her medical costs.
Workers had heard rumors for weeks that the plant could close.
"I thought it was coming. It's what we all thought," said Karen York, who has worked at the plant since 1985.
Earlier this year, the plant, which had been a Lear Corp. facility, was purchased by Michigan-based International Automotive Components.
The purchase agreement was finalized in April.
Lear Corp. kept 236 facilities that make electronics, electrical distributors, such as wire harnesses, and seats and held onto a 25 percent interest in the other locations if they were ever to be sold.
International Automotive Components took on the other 26 facilities that make internal automobile parts, including instrument panels, door panels and overhead pieces.
Lear Corp. had been seeking a company to take on the facilities since last year because it was losing money, a company spokeswoman has said.
In 2005, Lear's facilities that manufacture internal parts, such as the door and instrument panels, lost $191 million between what was earned in revenue and what was paid in supplies and manpower. In 2006, the facilities lost $184 million.
Drake would not disclose sales or profit figures for the plant since International Automotive Components, a privately held company, took over.
International Automotive Components has 25 design, production and testing locations in North America. It also runs a factory in Greencastle in western Indiana that employs about 975 people and makes door panels and hard trim components.
Drake said no cuts are planned for the Greencastle plant or other company locations.