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AP photoDIRECTIONS: Signs lead the way for truck traffic to the Indiana Glass plant, which now * houses Brody Co. items ag::well, in Dunkirk, Ind. The name Brody was added to signs to help truck drivers who were more familiar with that name than the Indiana Glass product line.Dunkirk struggling to balance loss of industryDUNKIRK (AP) — Roughly one year ago, glass manufacturing operations were halted after a proud heritage of more than 100 years at the Indiana Glass Company plant.The plant’s owner, Ohio-based Lancaster Colony Corporation announced that approximately 240 high-paying jobs, most of them held by union members, would be eliminated at the end of November, 2002.Some of the employees to be displaced were the sons, daughters and even grandchildren or g r e a t- gr a n d ch iTchm. oX.lo r,oi e r|plant employS#*1 and reftfe.es?'-’some who slatted their career^ af-Tter high school. •'The move to shut down the glass production furnaces and cease production at the Dunkirk plant was driven by economic forces as theconsumer glassware industry had been hit by a downturn in the economy.Dunkirk Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Sam Hubbard said company officials described the move as “an economic decision based on loss of customers and business over the last three years!'Now, a year later, the effects of that November, 2002, decision can still be felt throughout the city and the surrounding area.Employment at the Indiana Glass plant, now primarily a war housing and dtribution hub, i fewer than 6(Fpeople. Besides warehouse workers and staff, there remains a small group of skilled craftsmen who repair and clean glass production molds for the company’s plant in Sapulpa, Okla.The plant's former employees have gone “here, there and everywhere every direction under the sun, said Tom Brosher, a longtime American Flint Glass Workers Union Local 501 member.While no official records have been kepi of the whereabouts of the displaced workers from the Dunkirk plant, Brosher said that the union.nas tried to keep track of former workers as best as possible.“There’s a lot of people taking classes,” Brosher said, including his wife, Georgia, who recently made or roll al Ivy Tech State Col-Muncie. osher said that be is hopeful the economy and decorative glassware business in general will start to improve soon.But while concern runs high about what to do with the largeunion hall now that membership has been reduced, Hubbard and other community leaders are examining ways to return large portions of the Indiana Glass office and plant facilities to use again,Also during the past year, the city of Dunkirk and Jay County have splil the cost of an Economic Impact Analysis and Economic Assistance Study focusing on the down-sizing and loss of jobs at the plant.Completed earlier this, year by two Bloomington firms, the study is being reviewed and analyzed by local chamber and community leaders.The study points out that the city of Dunkirk could lose roughly a quarter of its tax base or $150,000 to $220,000 in property tax revenue.
Newspaper Details
Kokomo Tribune
Kokomo, Indiana, US
Tue, Dec 16, 2003
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Clyde C.
MD, USA 07 Aug 2018
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