By Marilyn Odendahl, Truth Staff
modendahl@etruth.com
ELKHART -- Wednesday, one day after Atwood Mobile Products announced the closure of its Iowa facility, the company president and chief financial officer were meeting with local officials to discuss the possibility of bringing the production lines and jobs to the City with a Heart.
"We're based in Elkhart and we'd like the opportunity to bring the jobs here but we have to make sure it's the best business decision for the organization," said Kip Ellis, vice president of sales and marketing at Atwood.
The plant in West Union, Iowa, manufactures windows for recreational vehicles and chassis hardware for the RV, marine, industrial, commercial and agriculture segments. Atwood is determining where to move the production lines and if both lines should go to one location or be split between plants.
With the Iowa operation slated to be shut down in mid-April, Ellis said the company wants to have a decision made within the next week.
Personnel from the city and the Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce along with Dorinda Heiden-Guss, president of the Economic Development Corp. of Elkhart County, and Howard Blackwood of WorkOne, met with the Atwood leaders.
The company wanted to know what assistance, such as training grants and tax abatements, are available, said Phil Penn, president of the chamber. The local group is now working on a proposal and plan to meet with Atwood again in a couple of days.
"I feel we've got the right people on this," Penn said. "The community will be well-represented on this. The community can put together a very competitive package."
In a letter filed with the Iowa Workforce Development office, Atwood stated it would be laying off about 125 employees and the plant is expected to close April 19. The jobs include customer service representatives, hand welders, material handlers and production operators.
Because of the downturn in the RV industry, Ellis estimated the transfer will create a total of 80 new jobs rather than the full 125.
Atwood is talking to the Iowa workers to see if any would be interested in relocating, but Ellis does not anticipate a significant number will move.
Martin Games, city administrator for West Union, agreed, saying that moving would be the last option for many of the employees. Still, the closure will hurt the small Iowa town near the Mississippi River. Atwood was one of the two major employers in West Union and, at its peak, had a payroll of 800, Games said.
"Not everyone was over there begging for a job," Games said, "but certainly they were good jobs for a town of 2,500."
Headquartered in Elkhart, Atwood was a part of Dura Automotive Systems Inc. In August 2007, Atwood was bought by Insight Equity, a private equity firm, for $160.2 million.
Including the plant in Iowa, the company has seven facilities with three in Elkhart and one each in Utah, Tennesse and Ohio. Once operations stop in Iowa, that plant will be mothballed, Ellis said.