Sharon manufacturer closing Friday
SHARON — The downturn in the housing market has reached the Sharon branch of Automated Building Components, a small manufacturer and supplier of roof and floor trusses.
The company is closing Friday, and 50 people will lose their jobs, said branch manager Bob Steckroat.
He said the real estate slump has hurt the Sharon branch of the company because it’s isolated from related businesses.
“We’re all by ourselves out here,” Steckroat said. “In other locations, there are lumber facilities, truss plants, wall panel plants, framing companies and millwork companies to support each other. They all work together.”
The Automated Building Components facility at 200 Old Factory Road is one of five branches. The company’s truss division has plants in Sharon, Chetek and Montrose, Minn. Its millwork division is in Chanhassen, Minn. Its kitchens division is in Excelsior, Minn.
The Sharon branch since 1994 has manufactured roof and floor trusses and supplied them to lumber dealers and large builders in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.
Steckroat said none of the 50 employees is being offered jobs at the company’s other branches. When asked whether the employees would receive severance pay upon the plant’s closing Friday, he said, “The company is taking care of the employees.”
Automated Building Components isn’t alone in feeling the effects of a sluggish economy, Steckroat said.
“It’s happening all over,” he said.
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Aug 30, 2008 at 11:36 a.m.
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Way off topic, but blaming Clinton for 9/11 is laughable. How Bush and Chaney chose to run this country after 9/11, specifically diverting attention and resources from Afghanistan to Iraq, is the real crime. Now we have effectively invaded two countries on both sides of Iran. Do you think they might be a little edgy?
Don't forget about the "Bin Laden Determined To Strike in US" memo, prepared for the President a month before 9/11. I'm not sure what Bush could have done in a month, but it certainly points out that the intelligence community didn't know any specifics. Blaming Clinton or Bush for 9/11 is ignorant.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3617...
Aug 30, 2008 at 10:56 a.m.
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I guess having the economy so bad didn't have anything to do with Sept 11 that was a result of Clinton being blind to the fact that we had terroists out there that were planning an attack under his watch.
Aug 30, 2008 at 8:20 a.m.
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whybesad: The economy sucks all over the nation, thanks to the last 8 years of the worst President in the history of the United States!
Aug 30, 2008 at 8:05 a.m.
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Yeah, a lot of people like to blame everything on Bush but Diamond Jim has more influence on Wisconsin's economy then the Federal Government would. When you have some of the highest taxes on small businesses, corporations, individuals, and families in the country along with some of the largest government regulations on companies, what incentive does that give to companies to stay open? Of course being located in a town out in the middle of nowhere where there's no building going on nearby doesn't help either.
Aug 30, 2008 at 7:25 a.m.
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And to think Diamond Jim Doyle was at the DNC talking about the economy. When the economy in Wisconsin sucks. He really knows how to sugar coat everything. Doyle=Worst Governor ever.
Aug 29, 2008 at 12:53 a.m.
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This is sad news. Fifty jobs in a community of about 1500 people is a big loss. I feel badly for the workers and their families. I will keep them in my thoughts and prayers.
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