Propex Closing Seneca SC Plant

Seneca, SC, April 26, 2000--Propex announced the closure of its plant in Seneca, along with plans to relocate some of the jobs and equipment to its Ringgold, Ga., facility near Chattanooga, Tenn, according to the Anderson Independent-Mail. "It’s strictly a business decision," site manager Nathaniel Barnes said. "It’s not about the performance of the plant or the employees." Barnes said the Seneca plant and the Ringgold plant manufacture the same products for the furniture and auto industry, and that Seneca is the smaller site. "It’s for a competitive advantage to consolidate the two sites," Mr. Barnes said. Seneca Mayor Dan Alexander said he was sad for the community to hear another plant is closing. "In the last several years we’ve taken some major hits on employment," Mayor Alexander said. "That’s a very large facility, but we’ll do all we can to get someone in that facility." The plant is also a major customer of Seneca Light and Water, having obtained all its utility services from Seneca. The closing will begin in July and be completed by November, officials said. The company will try to sell the plant site. The plant is on 154 acres that has 72 acres developed, including a 265,000-square-foot manufacturing facility, a 5,600-square-foot office building and a 145,000-square foot warehouse. Jim Alexander, executive director of the Oconee County Economic Development Commission, said the site also has a railroad spur. "A rail spur is a positive," Alexander said. "We will do everything we can to assist the employees and find other opportunities that they are suited for." Speculation about the plant’s future began earlier this year when Propex sold its Roanoke, Ala., plant, which manufactures carpet backing, to Dalton, Ga.-based Mohawk Industries. Propex Fabrics finalized the acquisition of SI Concrete Systems and SI Geosolutions in January and SI chief executive officer Joe Dana, 58, was named Propex president of North American Operations. Mr. Dana had said at the time that some 700 production jobs at SI’s Chattanooga, Tenn., Ringgold, Ga., and Gainesville, Ga., plans would not be impacted by Propex’s acquisition. In March, Dana was named president and chief executive officer of Propex Fabrics.