Last unit rolls off Carrier line:County braces for aftershock as local production ends
The day Warren County has been dreading has arrived.
Carrier halted production at its local facility yesterday, bringing an end to 37 years of manufacturing air conditioners in Warren County.
Workers have been laid off throughout the week and the last of 540 employees will lose their jobs today. Around 50 workers with high seniority will still be employed at the plant for the next few months doing clean-up duties as the remaining production lines are disassembled and removed.
“Seeing that last unit roll off the line it really sunk in,” said Marty Waldron, who has worked at Carrier for 33 years and is one of the few selected to help with cleanup. “That was the last unit that will ever be made in McMinnville.
“It’s the end of an era and a sad situation. Some people who worked here have a bright future. Some people have nothing. Some of us have spent our whole lives here and thought this is where we’d retire.”
Waldron began working at Carrier shortly after high school. He said he doesn’t have another job lined up, but has been filling out applications.
The ramifications of losing 1,300 Carrier jobs will ripple through the entire community. State Sen. Jerry Cooper has said the job losses would be “devastating.”
“Those 1,300 jobs being lost are going to turn into 2,000,” said Cooper referring to the other businesses that will be affected.
Martin Crating is one of those businesses as owner Eddie Martin says he and his brother, Tim, are closing the doors next week. Martin Crating received 99 percent of its business from Carrier.
“We’re history,” said Eddie, who was Carrier’s sole supplier of crating. “We’re shutting it down next week.
“It’s not a fun time right now. People in this community don’t have any idea what’s about to happen. It’s going to be some bad times ahead.”
Martin Crating was founded in 1973 and has employed as many as 35 people. The company’s 10 remaining employees will be laid off probably by Thursday.
Martin says he is currently building a strip mall in Murfreesboro and also has some rental property. He said he hopes to make a living from that and by scaling back his lifestyle.
The mood is not perky at S&S Industries, which has provided Carrier with insulating materials since 1987. Local manager Tim Hastings said the company’s home office is still trying to determine if it makes good business sense to keep the Warren County branch open.
“It’s pretty dismal but we’re keeping our chin up,” said Hastings, who estimates 70 to 75 percent of his business came from Carrier. S&S Industries has about 20 local employees and Hastings said there haven’t been any layoffs yet.
Bill McCormick, owner of McCormick Warehouse, said he is still staying busy trucking Carrier equipment and products, but says the work will eventually end.
“They have a whole yard full of stuff to ship so we’re still carrying a lot of freight for them,” said McCormick. “But we’re going to miss Carrier just like everybody else in this county will miss Carrier. They have helped to feed us all of these years.”
Carrier officials have said they want to have the 1-million-square-foot facility cleaned out and ready to turn over to the new owners by November. Those owners, Joe Primm and Tom Robinson of P.R. Trading, have been busy showing the building to potential tenants and report there is strong interest.