35 Johnson Metall workers losing their jobs when plant closes in July
Resource from: The Chronicle-Telegram Likes:229
May 29,2015
LORAIN — Ron Bellottie spent nearly 42 years with a local manufacturing company and worked his way up the company ladder from the plant floor to the president’s office.
But Bellottie, president of Johnson Metall, 1305 Oberlin Ave., announced Tuesday the plant he’s spent his entire career with will close in July.
Thirty-five people will lose their jobs when the plant closes. It produces products for construction, forestry, marine, metal and wind, oil and gas energy industrial applications.
Bellottie, reached by phone Wednesday, said it was decided closing was a better approach than filing bankruptcy, and he doesn’t blame the closure on the company’s Swedish owners or decisions made in far-off lands.
“It was nothing more than we weren’t getting any orders anymore,” Bellottie said. “I’ve got to say the overseas plants have treated us very good. We probably should have been closed before, but they’ve been very good to us.”
Bellottie said the company is in the process of paying all creditors and making sure all employees losing jobs are treated fairly. Bellottie, 60, said once the plant closes he too will be faced with figuring out his next career move.
Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer said he learned of the plant’s closure Tuesday. The lack of orders is tied to changes in the oil and gas industry and a downturn in prices, Ritenauer said.
He said the plant’s closure will equate to about $70,000 in annual losses of income tax revenue for the city.
The Johnson Metall closure comes on the heels of March layoff announcements by both Republic Steel and U.S. Steel. Despite all these announcements, Ritenauer said he has faith remaining manufacturers will continue to be an important part of the community.
Lorain also will continue working to draw other industries in to combat downturns in manufacturing, Ritenauer said, but the chance of finding a company that will bring 1,000 jobs is slim.
“It’s unfortunate but these kinds of ups and downs are a part of the industry, especially when you’re tied to oil and gas,” Ritenauer said. “But we’re looking for any and all types of businesses to come to the city to diversify our workforce.”
In a written statement provided by Bellottie, he said the company is negotiating terms of the Johnson Metall closure with the two unions representing employees, Local 962 of the Unite Steelworkers and Local 45B of the Glass Molders Plastics Union.
Johnson Metall has roots in Lorain extending back nearly 100 years. It opened as American Crucible Products in 1919, manufacturing sand castings of copper alloys and centrifugal castings in brass.
At one time the company operated under the name BecoTek Manufacturing Inc., and was the leading manufacturer and supplier of brass cages to the ball and roller bearings industry worldwide.
Johnson Metall acquired the Lorain facility in 1990 and at that time there were 100 employees working there. Johnson Metall was founded in 1940 in Sweden, according to its website, and operates in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Romania.
The Lorain location was the company’s only facility in the United States.
(The Chronicle-Telegram)
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