Gov. Beebe, local officials meet with Whirlpool execs

Gov. Mike Beebe and officials with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission met Wednesday (Oct. 12) in Little Rock with “corporate leaders” from Whirlpool’s headquarters in Benton Harbor, Mich., Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample confirmed Thursday.

Also on Thursday, three sources told The City Wire that Whirlpool division chief Al Holaday is scheduled to make a big announcement at the company’s Fort Smith plant on Oct. 18.

Beebe had previously promised union officials representing workers at Whirlpool’s Fort Smith plant that he would meet with Whirlpool execs related to concerns the Fort Smith plant may be closed.

DeCample said Beebe met with Whirlpool execs for about 30 minutes, and AEDC officials were with the Whirlpool group for about 2 hours.

“Discussions are ongoing. I can’t give you much of an indication beyond that,” DeCample said. “The face-to-face talks that we’ve been working toward and were hoping to see are now happening.”

RECENT WHIRLPOOL HISTORY
Whirlpool made production cuts and layoffs causing employment in Fort Smith to drop from about 4,600 in early 2006 to less than 1,000 today.

Whirlpool employees in mid-August reported that another 300 job cuts are planned for January 2012. Whirlpool officials would only confirm 250 hourly and 20 salaried job cuts are being planned.

In the late August comment, Whirlpool also said appliance demand in North America has returned to “recessionary levels.” The company said in its second quarter earnings report that industry shipments in North America would likely decline in the 1%-2% range, a shift from the previous expectation of an increase between 2% and 3%.

After months of denying rumors that the Fort Smith plant was under review, on Aug. 23, the company said “a study of options for the Fort Smith location” was underway.

‘FAIRLY POSITIVE’
Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders and Paul Harvel, president and CEO of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce, attended Wednesday’s meeting in Little Rock, Harvel confirmed Thursday.

“We have been engaged with them (Whirlpool) at some of the highest levels,” Harvel said. “What we are doing now, on both sides, what we are doing is considering our options.”

Harvel said he “walked away fairly positive” from the meeting in terms of having a chance to put together a proposal for Whirlpool before the company makes a decision.

BIG NEWS
Fred Denney is afraid the company has already made a decision.

Denney, a 34-year employee with Whirlpool, said the company is clearing an area inside the Fort Smith plant where Al Holaday can address all employees of the first shift — which is now the only production shift at the plant. Denney, who said he is not an official spokesman for the company, was not sure when the meeting would be held. A union newsletter says the meeting is scheduled for Oct. 18.

“They are clearing out the old Olympus (refrigerator) pre-foam area because they are going to have a big meeting down there. Big Al is coming in and and I’m pretty sure that he is going to tell us that we are going to shut the plant down,” Denney said.

A former union official at Whirlpool’s Fort Smith plant said having a full shift meeting is out of the ordinary, but does not necessarily mean Holaday will announce a plant shutdown.

“When they clear out a big area in the plant to gather up all the employees, that’s unusual. They’re not doing that just to tell them they are doing a good job or something like that … So what that tells me is this meeting with Al will be big news that’s good for the plant or big news that’s not good,” the source told The City Wire.

Whirlpool spokeswoman Kristine Vernier provided this comment when asked about Holaday’s scheduled visit: “As part of our normal business practice, our leaders frequently visit sites for operations reviews. We don’t publish travel schedules. Also we communicate frequently and directly with our employees regarding upcoming meetings and other activities in the plant.”

SUPPLIER ISSUE
In addition to the uncertainty about the plant’s future, the Whirlpool plant has had to shut down early on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because of a shortage of plastic components from Fortis Plastics.

Denney and other sources said they are in the dark as to why the parts are not arriving, with Denney saying speculation ranges from Fortis shutting down to a payment or contract dispute between Fortis and Whirlpool.

Larry Knight, a human resources official with South Bend, Ind.-based Fortis, told The City Wire that the company’s plant in Fort Smith had not closed. He also encouraged The City Wire to contact the local plant manager. The local plant manager refused to comment. However, there were more than 45 vehicles in Fortis’ Fort Smith parking lot Thursday morning, with a Midwest Vending truck servicing a break room area.

Denney said Whirlpool employees are now required to call the “inclement weather line” each morning to see if the shift will run. He said the shift has closed down before noon each day since Tuesday.

“We have experienced a parts shortage from one of our suppliers which has temporarily interrupted the side-by-side refrigerator production at the Fort Smith plant,” noted a comment from Vernier. “It is not unusual for this type of shortage to happen from time to time when a supplier is unable to deliver critical parts. We are optimistic that we will have parts for today’s production, however employees should call in as instructed.”

Denney disagreed with Vernier’s assessment.

“That’s a bunch of bull. I’ve been here 34 years and I’ve never seen it (parts shortage) go three days like this. And now we’re being told it’s going to be a short day tomorrow (Friday). Something else is going on,” Denney said. (It was later learned that Friday production was canceled because of a lack of parts from Fortis.)