Plant closure shocks Winthrop

Mar 9, 2010 — Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Josh Nelson

Mar. 9, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- WINTHROP -- The weekend announcement of Wilbert Plastic Services' closure shocked many and raised concerns about the community's future.

Wilbert employs 117 people at the plant, making the company one of the largest employers in town. Officials have said they are consolidating their manufacturing process with plants in Minnesota and North Carolina.

Wilbert will begin shifting work to other facilities immediately, and the Winthrop plant will shut down by mid-year.

"It happened unexpectedly as far as the city's concerned," said Leland Sprague, a member of the City Council.

The plant has been a prominent part of the community since beginning as Triangle Plastics in the 1960s. It was later sold and changed names.

Sprague said most of the work force commutes to Winthrop, but he still expects the closure to ripple through the town, which has about 770 residents.

"It affects everybody," he said.

Workers at the plant will get a chance to relocate to other Wilbert facilities, according to the company.

But Nate Clayberg, Buchanan County's economic development director, doesn't think many people will take the offer. Many employees have an average tenure of about 12 years.

"Those people who work here, live here," Clayberg said.

The decision comes down to economics, he added. All of Wilbert's plants are running at lower capacity, and the Winthrop plant is one of the company's older facilities.

Nevertheless, the decision shocked Clayberg as well.

Some in town compared Wilbert's announcement to the closure of Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) plants in 2006 in Independence and Oelwein. Nearly 400 jobs were lost between the two facilities.

Tyson recently re-opened its building in Independence to manufacture pet food. The Oelwein property was sold to Abraxis BioSciences, which will make chemotherapy drugs.

Gary Fawcett, owner of Fawcett's Furniture Store, understands the economics of manufacturing have changed, and the country is feeling the effects of the recession. But he said he was still sad to see the jobs leave Buchanan County.

The loss of any business hurts the community, Fawcett said.

"Just having their presence here is important," he added.

State officials, including the Iowa Department of Economic Development and Iowa Workforce Development, have been contacted. Clayberg said Workforce officials should have services available for any laid-off workers over the next three to four months.

Sprague and others hope a chance exists to lure another company to the building once Wilbert leaves.

"It's a lot of space for somebody," he said.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0150-42715136