MORRISON – Climco Coils is closing its ignition coils plant in March, putting about 25 people out of work.
In December, Climco sold its business and assets at Plant No. 1, 400 Oakwood St., to Lafayette, Ind.-based Andover Coils, which is planning to move the operation to its headquarters.
Over the last 6 months, Climco has added 30 employees to its Plant No. 2 in the Morrison Industrial Park, bringing the total to 120, said Scott Selmon, Climco’s owner. The company is looking for five more employees now, he said.
Five days before Christmas, Selmon told employees about the ownership change. The workers found out they would be working for a temporary agency until the plant closed in about 3 months.
In an interview, Selmon, who has owned Climco for about 10 years, said his company wanted to focus more on its solenoid coils, commonly found in machines, which it makes in Plant 2. Ignition coils, which often are in stationary machines, are Andover’s specialty.
“People are upset with change, and we understand that. We’ve tried to handle it as best we can,” Selmon said.
Recently, some Plant 1 workers expressed their frustrations with Climco’s actions in a letter to this newspaper. The letter, submitted by employees Melanie Weeks and Mindy Remmers and signed by 20 others, said nearly all of the employees have spent at least 10 years there. One employee has worked there for 41 years.
“This was our thanks for our dedication to the company,” the letter states.
Selmon confirmed that his company invited Plant 1 employees to apply at Plant 2, but they would be treated as new workers. That means their seniority wouldn’t transfer.
The letter says many people at Plant 2 had less seniority than those at Plant 1.
“Are you seeing a trend? Wouldn’t you move us in and them out? Although we understand that they can be good workers, too, seniority should play a part,” the letter says.
Mike Coyle, a co-owner of Andover, said his company is trying to move the plant’s equipment to Lafayette as quickly as it can, hoping to finish that process by the end of March.
Andover rehired the employees at the same pay rate, he said.
“The reason we used a temporary agency is because we’re an Indiana company. We’re not set up to do business in Illinois. The temp agency takes care of all the workers’ compensation and state tax withholdings,” he said. “It’s a much cleaner way to do it.”
The employees can continue to get health insurance through Climco’s insurer – a right they have under federal law. But they have to pick up the amount the company had been paying.
Coyle said Andover would consider hiring Plant 1 employees in Lafayette, but he didn’t offer any guarantees.
“It would have to be a situation where it works for both of us,” he said.
Coyle said a couple of employees had expressed interest in working for Andover in Lafayette. Andover would need some of them at least temporarily to make sure the equipment is operating properly in Indiana, he said.
“This is difficult for employees. You never want to hear the plant is closing and your jobs are gone,” Coyle said. “We really didn’t want to do this before Christmas. That adds to the emotional side of this.”
He said that the company had been working on the purchase for some time and that it had hoped to get it done well before Christmas.
“We have to deliver products to customers. The only way we can do that is employees showing up to work. If they’re angry, that doesn’t help anyone,” Coyle said. “We’re trying to make this as painless as possible.”
In recent days, Climco has been advertising job openings in this newspaper – for cell leaders, cell members, a quality assurance technician and a molding technician.
Asked how the company could expand in a tough economic time, Selmon responded that it happened “through the hard work of our employees and the continued investment in our business.”
“We have had difficulty in finding enough good employees recently, which I find very odd,” he said.
Weeks said she wished she and the others had been offered jobs at Plant 2.
“Why didn’t they just take us there? We have more experience. I think he just wanted to get rid of us,” she said.