Window and door manufacturer Pella Corp. plans to halt production at its Tucson vinyl window plant in late November 2008 and lay off the plant“s 65 workers.
The company said it had been forced into …
Window and door manufacturer Pella Corp. plans to halt production at its Tucson vinyl window plant in late November 2008 and lay off the plant“s 65 workers. The company said it had been forced into the decision by the depressed new housing market and a downturn in home renovations. The Tucson plant is the Iowa-based company“s smallest. It opened in 2005. “This isn“t a matter of shifting jobs to another location or outsourcing. It is a direct result of the dramatic drop in new construction from record levels a few years ago”, Pella corporate vice president Mark Hinkie in a prepared statement released on 5 November 2008. “The volatile housing economy and financial market turmoil has touched everyone from consumers to lenders, real estate agents, builders and manufacturers”. Pella spokeswoman Kathy Krafka Harkema said the company owns the Tucson plant and hopes to reopen it when the housing market recovers. “We continue to make products at other locations across the country”, she said. “We had excess capacity, and Tucson is our smallest vinyl facility. That“s why Tucson is being idled at this time”. The company will work with government agencies to try to find new jobs for the laid off workers. Family owned Pella, based in Pella, Iowa, has about 9,000 employees.