With Detroit Reman closing its west Emporia complex by the end of this year and laying off all 110-plus employees in the process, city leaders are working to soften the blow for those impacted.
A Rapid Response meeting early Wednesday involved city, Lyon County, business development leaders, higher education and state lawmakers, including Senator Jeff Longbine and Representative Mark Schreiber as local leaders work on next steps in the process.
Regional Development Association President Kent Heermann confirms there will be three different phases for the layouts over the next 10 months. He says there are a lot more opportunities for workers now than there were at the time of the Tyson downsizing over a decade ago, and as a result the city’s response plan may be different.
The city has held Rapid Response events after the Hostess liquidation and one of the Birch Communications layoff events last decade, and there is a possibility at least one of those will be scheduled. Those include information about job searching techniques, job training or retraining, short-term health insurance and unemployment insurance. Early indications are a job fair will not be scheduled due to the local need for workers being as high as it is, but that thought could change later.
Mayor Danny Giefer tells KVOE News the city did what it could to keep Detroit Reman rooted in town.
Giefer says the city will not lose any money on the bonds utilized for Detroit Reman. He says the city serves as a pass-through agent for bonds in cases like this.
Tuesday’s announcement signals the end of a decades-long partnership between the city and the company. Records from the Lyon County Register of Deeds Office have the earliest document referencing the company dating to 1990. Detroit Reman says that was part of an acquisition and consolidation effort involving several distributor-owned manufacturing centers.
Daimler Trucks North America, Detroit Reman’s parent company, says the move is part of an effort to consolidate its production footprint, with three of its five other plants in the Rust Belt and Upper Midwest — Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio. Detroit Reman also has facilities in Utah and Mexico.
Click here for KVOE News’ coverage of Tuesday’s announcement.
