Whirlpool plant closure in Indiana may benefit Fort Smith

There is a possibility the Friday morning (Aug. 28) news that Whirlpool Corp. is closing its Evansville, Ind., refrigerator and icemaker production plan will increase production at the company’s refrigerator plant in Fort Smith.

Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool announced Friday it would close the Evansville plant, eliminating about 1,100 full-time jobs by mid-2010. The Evansville plant primarily makes top freezer refrigerators, with that production being moved to the company’s plant in Mexico.

However, the company said its icemaker production and Refrigeration Product Development Center — which employs about 300 — in Evansville will “be relocated to a company-owned site yet to be determined.” Those operations could end up in Fort Smith.

Jill Saletta, director of external communications, told The City Wire that the company “will be in discussions with state and local officials on both these matters,” but would not elaborate as to a time frame.

Contacted early Friday morning, Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce President Paul Harvel said he was not aware of the Evansville announcement, but did say the chamber had a meeting planned with Whirlpool officials later in September.

“Well, I can tell you that this (Evansville cut) is news to me … and the September meeting had nothing to do with that,” Harvel said. “But I will tell you that the company is very important to us and we’re going to do whatever we can do, now that we know about this, to work toward that (capturing some of the Evansville production).”

Harvel also is a member of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, the state agency responsible for allocating state incentive funds to recruit and retain jobs. (The City Wire has requested a statement from the AEDC.)

Ray Gosack, deputy city administrator for Fort Smith, said the city will do all it can to work with the AEDC and chamber to help recruit the production. Gosack expressed interest in the Refrigeration Product Development Center because it could bring the “talent and technology” jobs that provide good wages and build a foundation for other similar jobs.

“The educational and training opportunities offered by UAFS (University of Arkansas at Fort Smith) will help us attract these technology and creative jobs to our region,” Gosack said. “Whirlpool’s movement of workers will be a prime opportunity for us to showcase that the Fort Smith region is a desirable place for a research and development operation. We’ll also work diligently to bring the additional manufacturing jobs to Fort Smith. Fort Smith has a strong, long-tenured relationship with Whirlpool that will be a key selling point for relocating jobs from Evansville to Fort Smith.”

Whirlpool’s Fort Smith plant is in need of a production boost. The national recession has  cut appliance sales, with the downturn in product sales noted by the company as a key reason Whirlpool has reduced employment at its Fort Smith plant from about 4,500 in early 2006 to about 1,350 as of June 30.

Whirlpool confirmed in early August it would cut up to 300 jobs in Fort Smith, with 250 of those being hourly workers. At the time of the announcement, the plant employed about 1,350. Saletta said Friday that 30 management jobs were cut Thursday (Aug. 27), with another 10 to 20 salaried positions to “come from a combination of retirements and attrition.”

Of the decision to close the Evansville plant, Whirlpool Vice President-North America Al Holaday said in this in the company statement: "This was a difficult but necessary decision. To reduce excess capacity and improve costs the decision was made to consolidate production within our existing North American manufacturing facilities. This will allow us to streamline our operations, improve our capacity utilization, reduce product overlap between plants, and meet future production requirements.”