Carrier lands devastating blow:County’s largest employer to close
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The move will eliminate approximately 1,300 jobs and sever ties Carrier formed with this community when it located here in 1968.
Some employees will have as long as 18 months before the plant completely shuts down and their jobs are eliminated. Others will be out of work starting this fall when Carrier begins moving its production lines to plants in Tyler, Tex., Charlotte N.C., and Monterrey, Mexico.
Carrier spokesperson Nancy Lintner said the company has not yet determined which lines will be moved first.
“When you have a business that’s been here since 1968 and is also your No. 1 employer, it’s going to be devastating,” said Don Rigsby, Warren County’s director of economic development. “With the economy turning around, and the spec building getting leased, and some smaller businesses locating here, I thought we were starting to turn this thing around. This is a giant step back.”
State Sen. Jerry Cooper, along with Gov. Phil Bredesen, were among the many local and state officials who tried to offer incentives for Carrier to stay.
Rumors that Carrier planned to shut down became widespread around two years ago when the company admitted it was evaluating all its manufacturing facilities with the idea some would be closed.
Since then, Carrier has closed 22 factories worldwide, including a 2,000-employee plant in Lewisburg, Tenn., in March of 2002.
“I don’t see how a company can just come in and blindside 1,300 families,” said Cooper. “They didn’t live up to their commitment of notifying the governor and myself of their decision.”
Tennessee Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development Jim Neeley was among the state officials who tried to keep Carrier from leaving.
“I think everybody did everything they could do,” said Neeley. “I think in the end there just wasn’t anything anybody could do.”
Rigsby, whose office is in the Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber has been bombarded by calls from people wanting to know why Warren County didn’t try harder to keep Carrier. Rigsby said he and County Executive Kenneth Rogers made several attempts, but received little or no cooperation from Carrier. Rigsby said most phone calls he made were never returned.
“I want to assure everybody that I and Mr. Rogers have asked and asked what could be done,” Rigsby said.
Added Rogers, “We’re not going to stop. We’re going to keep trying to do everything we know how until they leave.”
Lintner said the decision was made, in part, because the local Carrier plant manufactures such a wide range of commercial products. She said Carrier is now focusing on plants which produce only one product.
“There is such a wide variety of ventilation and air conditioning product lines in McMinnville,” said Lintner. “It’s our desire to reduce some of those complexities.”
Commissioner Neeley said the state would offer education and training to those who lose their jobs, but he also indicated Carrier would likely provide some of those services in its severance packages.
“In my discussions with them in trying to keep the plant from closing, they want to be very liberal in trying to take care of their employees even though they can no longer offer them a job,” said Neeley.