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June 17, 2006
The continuing downturn in the automotive industry impacted Fayetteville on Friday as Superior Industries International Inc. eliminated its chrome-plating facility.
Company officials informed the 225 affected workers on Friday during small-group meetings. They were provided 60-day warning notices and offered bonuses for staying through the next two months.
Jeff Ornstein, company vice president and chief financial officer, anticipated up to 50 workers would be absorbed into other departments within Superior Industries. "For the others, we will work with other employers to help them find jobs," Ornstein said. "We plan on having a type of job fair to assist them. We respect their dignity and respect the fact they need to work."
The move leaves Superior with still close to 1,000 workers at the south Fayetteville facility, which will retain its wheel-making, bright-polish and engineering operations. "It’s news I didn’t want to hear, that none of us want to hear, but it’s reality," said Bill Ramsey, president of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce.
Ramsey lamented the loss of above average-paying jobs from the community, but said he was pleased to know that Superior’s plant will continue to operate in Fayetteville. "Our job now is to replace some of those jobs," Ramsey said. "At least it’s not a shut- down. It’s one division."
Ramsey said he did not have any immediate concerns about the future of Superior in Fayetteville, but noted that much of what happens at the local plant depends entirely on auto industry developments beyond any local control, such as cutbacks by the Big Three auto manufacturers, skyrocketing fuel prices and cuts in the manufacturing of SUVs and other gas-guzzling automobiles. He said he’s been watching the struggles of the auto industry with Superior in mind. "I was just holding my breath," Ramsey said. "It had to eventually have an effect."
Ramsey said he had talked with P. S. Reddy, the plant manager, recently about the industry. "They’re just taking it a day at a time," Ramsey said, noting Superior’s new Mexico plant will produce wheels at about one-third the cost of U.S.-made wheels. "It’s just wait and see what happens."
On the bright side, Ramsey said the chamber has gotten a higher level of inquiries from potential industries lately than he’s seen in the past year or more.
Superior Industries purchased the Fayetteville plant in September 1987 from spring maker Norris Industries. It went through a series of expansions in the past two decades before the automotive industry entered a slump.
Reactions from the aluminum wheel manufacturer included layoffs in February of more than half the 635 employees at its Van Nuys manufacturing plant, a move labeled by President and Chief Executive Officer Steven Borick as effectively balancing plant utilization and location against customers’ changing requirements for pricing, wheel size, design, delivery, scheduling and volume.
The Fayetteville plant went largely unaffected during the company changes. The facility cut a few positions in the wheel-making sector, but Ornstein hopes to return those positions once business returns to normal levels.
The layoffs Friday were a direct response to what Ornstein described as an evolving manufacturing process for chrome wheels that has shifted demand. "Chrome plating makes a shiny finish, and that’s a very expensive process because it goes through various stages," he said. "That process now is being replaced by less expensive finish, either plastic covers that are fixed on or other paint methods or a bright polish."
Steve Rust, president and chief executive officer of the Fayetteville Economic Development Council, pledged any available resources to help the affected employees find new jobs. "It’s always disappointing when one of your community’s best long-term employers and corporate citizens has to make a business decision to roll back part of their operations due to changes in the world market," Rust said. "... Superior is a great company, and I hope this adjustment to new products on the market will allow them to thrive in Fayetteville for at least another 20 years."
The Superior reduction comes 17 months after Cooper Power Systems/Kearny Operation confirmed it was phasing out some of its 150 positions at its Fayetteville plant. A job fair proceeded that announcement, as it will with the one Friday by Superior.
Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody said ensuring those workers seek new opportunities is an important task. "We always regret seeing groups of fellow people lose their jobs, but with the low unemployment rate in Northwest Arkansas, it ought to be a good climate for them to find more work," Coody said.
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