The decline in American manufacturing has hit the North Country hard in recent years. In Colebrook, the closing of a window factory 2 years ago left 120 people jobless. Other manufacturers have downsized. Now two major employers in the Colebrook area are having trouble, and that's making many people nervous. NHPR's Trish Anderton reports.
UP IN REMOTE DIXVILLE NOTCH, TUCKED INCONGRUOUSLY NEXT TO THE ELEGANT BALSAMS RESORT, A LITTLE FACTORY TURNS OUT LATEX MEDICAL GLOVES. IN ITS HEYDAY IN THE EARLY 1990s, THIS PLANT EMPLOYED 375 PEOPLE AND WAS A MAJOR SUPPLIER TO U.S. HOSPITALS. BUT THE MACHINES that produce those gloves WILL FALL SILENT AT THE END OF THIS WEEK, AT LEAST TEMPORARILY. JOHN FALCONER IS CONTROLLER OF NORTH COUNTRY MANUFACTURING, WHICH runs THE PLANT.
Products from the far east are cutting into the domestic market. And that's what's got us to where we are.
BESIDES FOREIGN COMPETITION, THE COMPANY HAS SUFFERED FROM LAWSUITS RELATED TO the allergic reaction some people have to LATEX. It's now FOURTEEN MILLION DOLLARS IN DEBT. FALCONER SAYS the company could turn a profit if that debt burden were not quite so heavy. He SAYS THE IDEA IS TO CLOSE and RE-OPEN under new ownership, perhaps within two weeks.
If it goes much longer than that you run into other issues of supply and employees being available . but we're hoping one to two weeks.
MOST OF THE FACTORY'S 135 EMPLOYEES LIVE IN OR NEAR THE NEIGHBORING TOWN OF COLEBROOK. IF IT CLOSES FOR GOOD, THE TOWN WILL FEEL IT. AND THAT'S NOT THE ONLY QUESTION MARK IN THE AIR. ABOUT 3-400 PEOPLE IN NORTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE COMMUTE TO BEECHER FALLS, VERMONT, TO WORK AT THE ETHAN ALLEN FURNITURE FACTORY. TOWN OFFICIALS SAY THE FACTORY HAS HAD ABOUT 8 WEEKS OF TEMPORARY SHUTDOWNS IN RECENT MONTHS. THE COMPANY DID NOT RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR AN INTERVIEW, BUT ETHAN ALLEN HAS SAID IT'S UNHAPPY WITH VERMONT'S BUSINESS CLIMATE AND IS CONSIDERING MOVING. ALL OF WHICH WORRIES PEOPLE ON COLEBROOK'S MAIN STREET.
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HERE AT THE BIG APPLE CONVENIENCE STORE, OVENS BEEP AS THE STAFF GETS SANDWICHES READY FOR THE NOONTIME RUSH. MANAGER MARIANNE GILBERT SAYS THERE'S ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE THE MOOD AROUND TOWN.
14 130 anxious. Very anxious. Nobody knows what's going to happen next.
DOWN THE BLOCK AT KELLY'S HALLMARK, OWNER KELLY LEMIEUX IS CONCERNED ABOUT LOSING THE LOCAL MANUFACTURERS.
oooh, I think it wd be very bad. It wd be very tough on local econ.
TWO YEARS AGO THE NORTHERN CITY OF BERLIN MADE STATEWIDE HEADLINES WHEN ITS PAPER MILL COMPLEX SHUT DOWN. BUT WITH A POPULATION OF ONLY ABOUT 26-HUNDRED, COLEBROOK IS SMALLER AND MORE REMOTE. SOME RESIDENTS WORRY ITS ECONOMIC CHALLENGES WON'T GET THE SAME ATTENTION. STATE RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONER GEORGE BALD STOPPED BY RECENTLY TO LET BUSINESS LEADERS KNOW HE'S WATCHING. BALD SAID THE STATE IS ALREADY HELPING ETHAN ALLEN IMPROVE ITS PRODUCTIVITY.
ethan allen is having some difficulties but they're continuing strong in some areas, we're going to continue working with them even though they're a vt co bc they employ so many nh people. and I guess its one of those things that will just cause us to redouble our efforts to help this area come up with some alternative companies.
BALD HAS A RAPID RESPONSE TEAM STANDING BY TO HELP NEWLY UNEMPLOYED WORKERS IF THERE ARE LARGE-SCALE LAYOFFS. BUT HE'S HOPEFUL THERE WON'T BE. THE HEAD OF THE COLEBROOK DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION SHARES THAT OPTIMISM. BEENO LAMONTAGNE BELIEVES ETHAN ALLEN WILL STAY OPEN IN BEECHER FALLS. HE THINKS NORTH COUNTRY MANUFACTURING CAN BOUNCE BACK. AND WHATEVER HAPPENS, HE SAYS, COLEBROOK WILL MOVE FORWARD.
006 12 we're a community of survivors and when times are hard we hang tight.
MANY BUSINESS OWNERS ON MAIN STREET AGREE, SAYING THEY HAVE FAITH IN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS. THE TOWN WILL LIKELY LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF BOTH COMPANIES SOON. THE FATE OF THE GLOVE FACTORY SHOULD BE CLEAR BY MID-AUGUST. ETHAN ALLEN HAS SAID IT WILL REVIEW ITS POSITION IN OCTOBER. FOR NHPR NEWS I'M
