Federal Coach to close operations; 140 jobs to be lost

Federal Coach will close down its Fort Smith operation in a process expected to begin March 12. The move will result in the loss of at least 140 jobs.

Federal Coach, owned by Houston-based J.B. Poindexter & Co., produces “funeral coaches, limousines, and mid-sized buses,” and its lines include “Cadillac and Lincoln funeral coaches and limousines, custom limousines, and mid-size buses,” according to the company’s Web site.

At one time, Federal Coach once employed about 250 in the Fort Smith area and posted annual revenue of $60 million, according to Web site.

In a Dec. 11 letter from Eric Yeager, Federal Coach vice president, to Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker, the company cited a “significant downturn in business” as its reason for closing the Fort Smith location and moving its operations elsewhere.

Yeager said 140 jobs would be cut, with 24 of those being salaried positions.

J.B. Poindexter posted a net income loss of $2.828 million for the first nine months of 2009, compared to a $6.642 million net income gain in the same period of 2008. Revenue for the first nine months of 2009 for J.B. Poindexter totaled $371.1 million, down 33.6% from the same period in 2008.

Revenue in the specialty manufacturing division of J.B. Poindexter — the division in which Federal Coach operates — posted revenue of $127.13 million in the first nine months of 2009, down 29.2% from the same period in 2008.