Carrier was main customer for dozens of businesses

By JAMES CLARK / Editor for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

Kirk McCormick, left, and his father, Bill, stand in front of a flat-bed truck loaded with finished Carrier air conditioning units headed for Dublin, Ohio. As co-owners of McCormick Warehouse and Trucking, the two do a great deal of business with Carrier.

The press release distributed Monday to media outlets across the state seemed straightforward enough.

“Carrier plans to close the McMinnville facility,” the press release said. “An estimated 1,300 jobs will be affected by the decision.”

Yes, 1,300 Carrier employees are scheduled to lose their jobs but that’s only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Dozens of other businesses scattered around Warren and surrounding counties have depended on Carrier as their primary customer for years.

Many of these companies will be forced to lay off employees – or close their doors completely – because Carrier is no longer supplying them with a steady workload.

“Right now we’re going to see if we can replace the business to keep from closing this place down,” said Tim Hastings, plant manager of S&S Industries. “This branch was put here for the purpose of supplying Carrier. There are about a half dozen people with jobs on the line.”

S&S Industries has been supplying Carrier with insulating materials since it located in Morrison in 1987. Hastings has worked at S&S since 1989. “It’s a disappointment,” he said.

S&S certainly won’t be the only business fighting for its life once Carrier leaves town.