Propex To Close Seneca, SC, Plant

Seneca, SC, April 25, 2006--According to the Anderson, South Carolina, Independent-Mail, Propex officials told about 120 workers summoned to the plant this morning for special meeting, that the plant on Shiloh Road would close. Some 200 people are reportedly employed there. The newspaper quotes a company statement: "After long and careful review, the company has decided to close the facility. This process will begin in mid-July and is scheduled to be completed early November of 2006." Afterward, employees declined to speak to the press, saying they had been told not to, the newspaper article said, and noted that "at least two Oconee County Sheriff's deputies were asked to stand by and parked their cars just off Shiloh Road across from the plant." The newspaper added that there has been speculation that the plant might close since a Propex plant in Roanoke, Alabama, was sold to Mohawk. Propex Fabrics finalized the acquisition of SI Concrete Systems and SI Geosolutions in January. Joe Dana, former president and CEO, SI was named Propex president last month. In January, Dana said some 700 production jobs at SI's Chattanooga, Tennessee and Ringgold and Gainesville, Georgia plants would not be impacted at all. In February 2003 the Seneca plant had been cut from about 248 workers to the current 200 workers. The Seneca plant, which has been in production since at least 1968, manufactures carpet backing and the fiber found in furniture and bedding. The plant, on 154 acres, 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.