Carrier completely out of local facility

Carrier said it would vacate its Warren County manufacturing plant by Dec. 31, 2005 and the company was true to its word. Carrier severed its local ties and abandoned ship here in mid-December.

‘Carrier is gone all the way,” said Tom Robinson, who is co-owner of the building along with Joe Primm. The two operate P.R. Trading.

While Carrier is gone, there is still daily activity at the facility. Tom has hired former Carrier employees Glen Moore, Ray Darnbush and Ray Woodlee to maintain the building. They no longer have any affiliation with Carrier. Tom also has a full-time security force patrolling the property. It never occurred to me an empty building would require a payroll.

‘Glen is staying on board to keep the plant looking nice and to give any tours to people interested,” said Tom, who also said he’s having to keep all the utilities turned on. ‘We’re trying to keep the place ready because you never know when the right prospect will come along.”

Here at the Standard, people are continually calling to see if the building has been sold to Nissan or Toyota. Apparently those same folks are calling Tom.

‘One time the rumor says it’s Nissan. One time it’s Toyota,” said Tom. ‘But I can tell you we don’t have any kind of signed contract for the building.”

The fact P.R. Trading is retaining the services of three full-time employees, plus a security force, certainly validates the point the building has not been sold.

Anyone interested in buying the facility can contact Glen for a tour at 668-1021.