American Growler Closing Robbins Plant
A vehicle produced by American Growler at its Robbins plant.
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Robbins has been hit again with yet another plant closing.
American Growler is shutting down all production, and last week began sending layoff notices to employees.
“Growler is closing Oct. 26,” Mayor Lonnie English told the Town Board at the close of Thursday’s meeting. “Their military contracts are on hold.”
Production will soon halt on the Growler vehicle the plant builds for the U.S. Marine Corps.
“Our contract with General Dynamics and the Marine Corps is ending,” said Growler’s Chief Financial Officer Bill Crisp in a Friday morning telephone interview. “We have given all the employees notice that unless we get a contract of some kind, we will have to lay off the vast majority.”
About 50 Robbins area residents are losing their jobs next month.
This isn’t the only business affected. A looming deadline in the Budget Control Act of 2011 that was supposed to force Congress to reach a deficit-reducing deal hits at the end of the year. Without new cuts, the mandated “sequester” could mean $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts split half-and-half between defense and non-defense.
“Right now everything is being held up because of this threat of sequestration,” Crisp said. “The sequestration caused a huge delay in government procurement. The administration has not submitted detailed plans required by the Congress showing what will be cut. Right now, procurement people are saying they can’t place any contracts because they don’t know what will be cut.”
While the company’s other plant — a smaller facility in Star — remains open, few of the Robbins workers can go to work there. They are barred by federal law from employment there.
“Right now we are hit with a double whammy,” Crisp said. “Robbins doesn’t have HUBZone status.”
A Small Business Administration (SBA) program, HUBZone (Historically Underutilized Business Zones) gives federal contract preference to small businesses in areas that qualify — in part by employing staff who live in their HUBZone. Moore County, with its prosperous Sandhills section to the south, cannot qualify. Robbins meets all the criteria, but must wait for data from the 2010 Census before it can apply.
“Supposedly data will be out in November,” Crisp said. “Once the data is out, the SBA has some time to evaluate the data and decide whether Robbins can get a metropolitan HUBZone status. My guess is you are looking at 2013 before anything meaningful can take place. My guess is nothing is going to happen in November.”
Crisp said the SBA rules actually create delays in filling some military needs, because Growler is prevented from moving any work to Robbins from Star.
“We had a contract in Montgomery County to build 840 trailers for the Navy, but the work had to be done in a HUBZone,” Crisp said. “If Robbins were included, we could transfer a lot of that work over here. The Navy would like us to accelerate deliveries, but we can’t do that from Star. We can’t even transfer employees from Robbins.”
American Growler is laying off workers in Robbins that it may not offer jobs in Star — as much as Crisp would like to hire them there.
“You have to submit documented proof of where your employees live, copies of driver’s licenses or utility bills, print out a map showing that employee lives in the HUBZone,” he said. “Thirty-five percent have to live in the zone. It has a huge effect on our garnering new business, long term. Short term, it prevents us keeping workers.
“We gave all the employees a letter about the first of September that we would be mothballing this plant with a skeleton crew,” he said. “We told them that we would give them time off for interviews, help them with resumes, give them letters of recommendation. Several have found other employment. Furthermore, we weren’t going to hand out layoff notices; but, as time progressed, we said we would give every one of them at least a two-week layoff notice individually. The first ones went out this week.”
Other company products are getting hit as well. Crisp said Growler builds a mine vehicle that carries coal workers deep underground. The company had a two-year contract to build the vehicle for Patriot Coal, but the company went bankrupt in July.
Contact John Chappell at (910) 783-5841 or jfchappell@gmail.com.
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Comments
alladat1 8 months, 1 week ago
I'm normally not a "no regulation" guy - but the regulations listed above are crazy. Can you imagine these rules in place during WWII.
tarheelfan1 8 months, 1 week ago
Robbins has lost most of its businesses and the best the town management can do is open a theater that no one wants. Get a clue Robbins. What's more important, trying to bring more jobs to town, or opening a theater that will last no more than a year? I feel for the employees who will be loosing their jobs, I just wish that their town would do something to help them...and free theater tickets is not it.
KevinStewart 8 months, 1 week ago
The theater is owned by a non profit entity, not Robbins. After the 2010 Census is published in November I plan to go to Washington,DC to see if there is anything we can do to push the HUBZone process. Water availability limits us to bringing in industry but we are working on that too.
tarheelfan1 8 months, 1 week ago
@KevinStewart: It doesn't matter who owns the theater, to the people of Robbins, it seems like the theater is all the town management cares about.
xemrac 8 months, 1 week ago
This is awful for all of those that will be affected by job loss. This is a brutal time in our economy to try and find work...I know....
KevinStewart 8 months, 1 week ago
@tarheelfan1: Actually the "Town management" has very little to do with the theater, it is run by a great group of volunteers that want more for their community other than a arcade or pool hall. The "Town management"(Mayor, Commissioners, manager and employees) are busy attempting to attract industry and finding a solution to providing water for them. Unfortunately State and Federal regulations hold us back on progress.
Toda 8 months, 1 week ago
Republicans are demanding budget cuts ... this is a start. Just wait if Romney is elected and then some small towns will become proverbial ghost towns.
rightfield 8 months, 1 week ago
Toda. Excellent shift form BO to Republicans > Romney. Obama could not have trained you any better. But I must ask why you're looking to blame Romney and not continuing to blame Bush. Since when has it quit being Bush's fault. Let's be consistent here. Change is working for Robbins.
JD 8 months, 1 week ago
Since when has it quit being Bush's fault. Let's be consistent here.
IMHO it's his fault until we finish with the wars he left open ended. And Toda did not mention Bush so that's all you getting ahead of yourself with faux outrage.
TooHot 8 months, 1 week ago
Well they need to cut this kind of spending so they can continue to pay the entitlements to the slackers and losers and net-takers of our country.
JD 8 months, 1 week ago
Well when it's government welfare for a business then it's 'A okay' right? It's sad but if you build things no one uses then you need to retool and make something useful. It's sad they lost the coal company contract, but that is just more of a sign that the company needs to make a change in order to be competitive and thrive. Most military companies are welfare companies. Speaker Boehner famously lobbied for a factory in his district that made airplane engines for planes we don't use anymore. So really it hurts now, but it is for the best. And since the Pilot is so slack here are the actual regulations so people can read them.
The HUBZone program was enacted formally in the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-135). The purpose of the program is to provide federal contracts to provide federal contract preferences to qualified small businesses located in any of the more than 8,000 HUBZone areas in an effort to increase employment, capital investment, and economic development. The program provides for set-aside, sole source awards, and prime evaluation preferences, subcontracting opportunities for HUBZone small businesses, and establishes government wide goals at the prime and subcontract level. As of October 1, 2000, Public Law 105-135 set annual contracting goals for the HUBZone program at one percent of the total value of all federal prime contracts in FY 1999 and will increase the value annually by .5 percent until the level reaches a maximum of 3 percent in FY 2003. A small business must have a principal office, as defined by the Small Business Administration (SBD), in a designated HUBZone and must generally draw a portion of its workforce from these areas; the location of the actual work site can be anywhere except in construction. HUBZone contracts are not limited just to HUBZone areas. To qualify for the program, a company must meet the following criteria: It must be a small business by SBA size standards; It must be owned and controlled by one or more U.S. citizens, a Community Development Corporation or Indian tribe; Its principal office (defined as the location where the greatest number of employees work) Must be located in a HUBZone, except for tribally-owned concerns; and At least 35 percent of its employees must reside in any area designated as a HUBZone. Here again, there is an exception for tribally owned concerns.
References for the regulations.
justpassingby2 8 months, 1 week ago
Psst toda, over here. I'm a life-long democrat. I thought we are for cuts in military spending! I thought we democrats always blame the republicans for building the 'war machine'. This is sort of embarrassing for me so don't let anyone else see this, but what the heck is going on?
Toda 8 months, 1 week ago
O' my good man or woman ~ hard to tell some narrow minded foot-in -mouth bloggers will be insulted next. Bush created the mess with his lack of focus on taking care of the country instead of Wall Street and people like Romney.
Toda 8 months, 1 week ago
Well I'll be justpassingby2 => Well JPB2 I expect since Obama is winding down the two Bush wars, didn't put boots on the ground in Libya, no additional equipment is needed I suspect.
BTW: I really don't like either party or politics, or every elected official on the take or have their donuts crusted hands in the pockets of self-interest groups (Jerry Tillman) and the Washington Zombies. Sweet don't ya think?
cooldaddy 8 months, 1 week ago
We are within months, if not days, of seeing Iran get attacked. I would not chain the doors yet. It could get messy quick. They are going to bomb the Mess out of Mesopotania...just watch.
hometown24 8 months, 1 week ago
I am sorry that so many people are losing their job at Growler. I'm hoping that something will come along to help Robbins, in the near future!
On another note, and I don't mean to impede on this conversation, however, The Pilot is not allowing comments on another story that John Chappell wrote, so I'm using this space to comment! You know what they say, "Where there's a will, there's a way!" In reference to the Melvin King article, Mr. Chappell was way out of line by mentioning that Millie King, an employee with the Moore County DA's Office, was related to Melvin King. The fact that she was related to him, was none of anybody's business, and was TOTALLY uncalled for!!! Chappell could have simply said that there was a conflict with the DA's Office in trying the case...plain and simple!! But no, Chappell had to practice poor journalism, which he is notorious for!! I don't recall Chappell broadcasting to everyone that his wife is an employee at the Moore County District Attorney's Office. No, probably not going to hear that one! However, if everyone did know, then they would understand why he is so keen on giving Maureen Kreuger free publicity. You know what they say, "If the boss ain't happy, then nobody's happy!" And, furthermore explains why The Pilot's coverage of the Robert Stewart trial was so indepth, we were getting day to day, "inside the courtroom" information, from his wife Patricia, since she was in the courtroom daily. I guess it's a win-win situation for Kreuger and Chappell!!
justpassingby2 8 months, 1 week ago
Journalism? The Pilot? Good one!!!
JimRussell44 8 months, 1 week ago
cooldaddy, who is the "they" you speak of?
cooldaddy 8 months, 1 week ago
The obvious one Jim, Israel. That is, unless we find a set in Washington to put world pressure on Iran and shut them down. I pray it works out, but I think Iran will have to have their reactors destroyed by force.