The closure of a Manitowoc Co. crane manufacturing plant in its namesake city will affect about 528 employees, according to a layoff notice the company filed with the state.
The company this week said it’s shuttering its crawl crane manufacturing plant in Manitowoc by mid-2017. It will move those operations to a facility in Shady Grove, Pennsylvania, a move that the company says will save $25 million to $30 million a year.
Spokesman Ion Warner noted the Manitowoc Co. headquarters will remain in the city, as will its product engineering and support jobs. The company also has a manufacturing facility in Port Washington, he added.
“The market conditions were quite poor, and the outlook is not that favorable either,” Warner said. “So the company had to make a decisive plan to relocate its facility. This was not taken lightly.”
Warner said it’s unclear how many of the 528 employees will be laid off, as some will have relocation offers or will stay with the company. And Barry Pennypacker, the president and CEO of The Manitowoc Company, Inc., thanked Manitowoc employees who might lose their jobs in the coming months.
“We thank them for their contributions to the achievements of our business, and are committed to treating them fairly and with respect throughout this process,” he said.
Manitowoc this year split off its food and beverage equipment business into a company called Manitowoc Foodservice, Inc. The split followed activist investor Carl Icahn taking a larger stake in the company and calling for a breakup. The other side of Manitowoc’s business — crane manufacturing — has been hit hard by the global industrial slowdown.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. reached out to Manitowoc after the split was announced in February “in an effort to keep as much of its operations in Wisconsin as possible,” WEDC spokesman Mark Maley said. WEDC laid out the several incentive options available to keep companies, but the company did not take those incentives.
The agency is now working with local leaders and the Department of Workforce Development to help those who will be affected.
Peter Wills, the executive director Progress Lakeshore, said the announcement was a “shock” but not totally unexpected given reduced demand for cranes. And Wills said though the effects on the local economy will be tempered by other companies in the area looking for employees.
“It is a significant impact but somewhat mitigated as other companies have been doing well in the area,” he said.
Manitowoc’s stock slipped 16.75 percent yesterday to close at $4.82 per share. The company spun-off its foodservice equipment business in March, forming two publicly-traded companies with share prices of $4.16 and $13.44, respectively. The spin-off company, Manitowoc Foodservice Inc., closed at $18.33 per share yesterday.
— By Polo Rocha,
WisBusiness.com
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify the stock prices for Manitowoc and its spin-off company.
