Decatur Daily Democrat
All local Fleetwood Enterprises employees have been terminated and will need to apply for a job with the company, the Daily Democrat has learned, as part of the process of turning over the company to its new owners, American Industrial Partners (AIP).
The sale of the company for $53 million had not closed as of Wednesday afternoon, but it appears that that could happen any day.
Meanwhile, Fleetwood on Wednesday terminated those employees who were working and, according to reports, they immediately began applying for a job with the new company.
Today, according to reports, applications were being accepted from all Fleetwood employees previously terminated or laid off - along with applications from anyone without previous ties to Fleetwood but in search of a job.
A WorkOne team reportedly was put together to handle the process of accepting applications. All applications will have to be screened, the newspaper was told.
Decatur Mayor John Schultz and Adams County Economic Development Director Larry Macklin had no comment to offer when contacted Wednesday afternoon.
Attempts to obtain comment from local Fleetwood officials, as well as AIP officials, on Wednesday proved fruitless.
Heather Everett, public relations officer at Fleetwood's Riverside, California, headquarters, said Wednesday afternoon she was "not at liberty to discuss" any transactions currently taking place at the Decatur plant.
A call to the local Fleetwood office seeking comment on the reported termination of employees was directed by a receptionist to Doug Hormann, who was away from his desk at the time. Hormann did not respond to a voice-mail request from the Daily Democrat for comment.
Everett did confirm that the sale of the Decatur facilities to AIP has not yet been completed. She directed inquiries about the Decatur operations to senior AIP partner Dino Cusumano, who also did not reply to an email request for comment.
Decatur City Council has initiated the process of granting AIP a 10-year tax abatement on approximately $15 million in equipment which will be brought to the Fleetwood plants here. The request was made through intermediaries at the July 7 meeting of council.