A day after Kennametal confirmed the closing of its plant in Lyndonville, the parties involved are negotiating issues related to the shutdown and are largely mum.
Kennametal plant officials announced Tuesday they would close the Lyndonville plant, which employs a total of about 80 people. The last day of production will be June 30.
Kennametal spokesperson Christina Sutter, based in Latrobe, Pa., said “The decision is directly related to our marketplace, and changing requirements to serve our customers competitively, including the need to re-balance manufacturing and logistics in response to new demand patterns within the U.S.”
The decision was “very difficult,” Sutter said. “We understand the effect it will have on our employees. We are committed to working closely with the Local 5518 and government officials to make necessary resources available to them to ensure a successful transition to new opportunities.”
Kennametal is a machine tool manufacturer that produces precision taps and dies. It employs roughly 80 people in the heart of Lyndonville. There are 10 management and 70 manufacturing positions. Labor is represented by the United Steelworkers of America.
Lyndonville Electric’s Biggest Customer
Ken Mason, General Manager of Lyndonville Electric, the municipally owned electric utility, said Wednesday afternoon that he was calculating the financial impact the plant closing would have on the utility and its budget. He said the exact amount of power purchased by Kennametal was confidential but he did confirm the Kennametal plant on Main Street is Lyndonville Electric’s biggest customer, exceeding even large power users like Lyndon State College or Q Burke ski area.
Kennametal is the second business to announce an upcoming closure, following a similar announcement from VermontFlex last week. Mason says the loss of any electric purchaser hurts the utility.
Lyndon is struggling to develop a fiscally sound water budget and the loss of a commercial water user will not help to stabilize the Town’s water and sewer budget either.
In terms of property taxes, Kennametal pays about $38,000 a year to Lyndon. The Main Street plant and lot is appraised at about $1,800,000. The company will still pay property taxes to the town after its closure but tax payments would decline proportional to the property value.
Rapid Response
Cindy Robillard, with the local office of the Vermont Department of Labor, said she was still trying to connect with management at Kennametal in Latrobe, Pa., to set a date for the State of Vermont’s “Rapid Response Team” to meet with the company’s employees. The “rapid response” consists of State of Vermont employees who meet with the Kennametal employees in an information session, during which the state provides an overview of unemployment benefits, reemployment and training services.
Employees are asked to complete a survey in which they list the services they will need. Workers separated from their job are currently eligible to receive up to 26 weeks of unemployment compensation. According to Robillard, in January 2014, the unemployment rate in the St. Johnsbury area was 5.4 percent, compared to 3 percent in White River Junction and 7 percent in Newport.
Rep. Richard Lawrence said Wednesday afternoon that he, Rep. Marty Feltus and Sen. Joe Benning met with representatives of the United Steelworkers on Tuesday night. It was a meeting scheduled before the plant closure was announced. Rep. Lawrence said the USW reps asked that their conversations remain confidential because the USW is still negotiating issues related to the closure with Kennametal. Lawrence did say that he and the other members of the Northeast Kingdom legislative caucus were not giving up and are continuing to work hard to see if there are other options that can be explored or other assistance the legislators might be able to bring to the situation.
Gov. Peter Shumlin released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying, “My heart goes out to the employees who learned today that they will likely lose their job, and to their families and communities that will also be impacted by this decision. My Department of Labor has reached out to company officials, and will work closely with the workers to ease the transition and do everything in our power to help them find new jobs. This is a big loss for a small, close community. I pledge that we will work together to get through this challenging time.”
The chairman of the Vermont Republican Party said he had asked the Shumlin administration to intervene to keep Kennametal from closing, but was ignored.
“This is a sad day for Lyndon, the Northeast Kingdom, and all of Vermont. The hearts of all Vermonters go out to the Kennametal workers,” GOP Chair David Sunderland said. “Unfortunately, we will never know if a more proactive and engaged response from Governor Shumlin could have saved these valuable jobs. Clearly, the policies of this administration are failing Vermonters. Any action now is too late for the 80 people in the Northeast Kingdom who will soon be unemployed — as it is for the hundreds of other Vermonters how have also become victims of the Shumlin economy over just the past few months.”
Shumlin said at a Wednesday news conference that Kennametal’s decision had nothing to do with Vermont policy.
“Listen, we’ve been working with the folks at Kennametal for a while to keep them going in Vermont, as we do with any company,” Shumlin said. “We are now going to work very hard with the 80 folks that were laid off to try and find economic opportunities for them that match their skills, and help them and their families get on their feet as quickly as possible.
“Let’s not forget that we’re involved in one of the initiatives that it likely to grow more jobs in the Northeast Kingdom, where we’re losing Kennametal, than any initiative in recent memory. As you know we’re trying very hard to grow about 10,000 jobs up in the Kingdom,” he said.
