Armstrong Officially Closes Arkansas Wood Plant

Searcy Arkansas, February 28--The Armstrong plant in Searcy officially closed last week, although a limited crew will continue production through May, said Searcy plant manager Shelley Reeder, according to the Searcy Arkansas Daily Citizen. Armstrong Holdings, Inc. announced on Dec. 8, 2004, that the Searcy plant, which manufactured solid hardwood flooring, would stop production on Feb. 25, 2005. Approximately 230 employees worked at the Searcy plant, according to the announcement. Armstrong has provided Searcy workers outplacement assistance programs and has relocated some employees to other Armstrong factories, said Dorothy Brown Smith, vice president of corporate communication at Armstrong. She did not know how many workers in the Searcy plant will continue working for Armstrong. Helen Dewitt, who has worked at the plant through different ownerships for 31 years, said that some workers will move to an Armstrong plant in Texas. The state has provided job and education fairs for the workers at Armstrong, said Kimberly Friedman, who is communications director of the Arkansas Employment Security Department. The volume of hardwood flooring once produced at Searcy will be shifted to Armstrong's Warren, Ark., and Jackson, Tenn., plants, according to Armstrong's announcement. Armstrong Holdings, Inc. is a Pennsylvania-based company whose approximately 15,000 employees produce floors, ceilings, and cabinets at 44 plants in 12 countries, according to the company's website. The Searcy plant can trace its history back to the Doniphan Lumber Mill which opened a hundred years ago in 1905, according to information printed by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. The Doniphan Lumber Mill Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. Timber originally reached the plant by being floated down the Little Red River, and later timber arrived by railroad, said Bill Leach of the White County Historical Society. During World War II the plant produced detonator crates. Some time prior, the plant produced wooden spokes for car wheels, according to Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. Searcy Chamber of Commerce president Buck Layne said in December that he was surprised by Armstrong's decision to close the plant. "We didn't know about it," Layne said then. "They have made tremendous investments over the years in their plant here. And the city of Searcy has made significant investments in them. The city brought water to the plant, annexed the land into city, and also the Arkansas Department of Economic Development provided a road improvement grant for Whitney Lane Road where the plant is." Armstrong officials have told him they want to "mothball" the site rather than put it up for sale, Layne said.