No April fool!!!!
I just got this in from Accusport!


Published: Friday, March 26, 2010

By Ann DeMatteo, Assistant Metro Editor

NORTH HAVEN — The Marlin Firearms Co., one of the town’s top taxpayers, will start to lay off employees in May and will close by June 2011.

The gun manufacturer’s employees were told Thursday that the jobs of 265 salaried and hourly workers would be eliminated over 18 months. Marlin traces its history back to 1870.

Marlin officials could not be reached for comment, but First Selectman Michael J. Freda heard the news from a company official Thursday evening.

Freda said several factors appear to be driving the closure, from the cost of doing business in Connecticut to wage differentials.

“The situation appears to be compounded by the fact that Connecticut is a difficult state for any manufacturer to sustain its business model,” Freda said after meeting with the company official.

Freda said he asked whether the services Marlin was providing would be moved, but was told that was undetermined.

State and federal officials also were contacted Thursday, according to Freda.

The Remington Arms Co. bought Marlin in late 2007. Marlin is on Kenna Drive, off Bailey Road. Remington is a North Carolina affiliate that falls under the umbrella of the Freedom Group, one of the largest manufacturers of firearms and ammunition in the world, according to its Web site.

No layoffs or closures were anticipated at the time of the $41.7 million sale.

The firearms manufacturer should not be confused with The Marlin Co., a business-to-business Internet and print publication service that operated at the plant until late 2007. Now in Wallingford because it needed more space, that company employs 120 people.

The chairman and president of The Marlin Co. is Frank Kenna III, whose grandfather, the late Frank Kenna Sr., bought Marlin Firearms at auction in 1924 when it was bankrupt. Marlin Firearms was started by John Marlin.

“I’m sure for the employees, it’s devastating,” Kenna said of the closure. “I still know a lot of them, and all I can say is I’m very sympathetic to them. It’s a tough blow.”

But, Kenna said the rifle and shotgun industry has changed over the years. “What’s happening in the industry is it’s consolidating and there are fewer and fewer individual firearms companies. The culture has changed.

“When we sold we were producing half of the number of rifles that we were in the early 1970s,” he said.

The news that Marlin will be closing comes at a bad time for North Haven, which has a $6.6 million revenue gap going into the next fiscal year.

“The timing of this news is very unfortunate as we are preparing for our upcoming budget,” Freda said.

As a result, his efforts to generate economic development in town, possibly with incremental tax financing to attract new businesses, “will be kicking into higher gear.”

Freda said he will be doing his best to urge local Marlin officials to arrange a meeting for him with the parent company.

“I would like to meet with the parent company in an effort to see if there’s any way to keep them here,” said Freda. “I can’t accept it without making an attempt,” he added.

How much tax revenue the town receives from the company annually was not immediately available. On the 2009 grand list, Marlin was ranked No. 14.
Anyone heard anything similar???

The above is a bit misleading since it doesn't mention what is contained in the article by Jim Sheperd (OUTDOOR WIRE) below.

Marlin Being Relocated

After 140 years, the Marlin plant located in North Haven, Connecticut will be closed by the middle of next year. According to Remington Arms sources, the facility is being decommissioned and the manufacturing relocated to Remington's Ilion, New York facilities, the Marlin lines are not moving offshore.

For the North Haven community, it's an economic hit, impacting not just the 265 Marlin plant workers, but the cottage industries that have sprung up over time to service the Marlin workforce. When Marlin was acquired by Remington in 2008, there were 345 employees in North Haven and another 225 workers at the Marlin facility in Gardner, Massachusetts. Today, only 265 remain, and they've been notified they're not going to be working beyond mid-2011.

For the industry, the news is yet another sign that business as usual is coming to an end. As corporations acquire smaller brands, corporate efficiencies, and economies of scale trump history and community standing. After all, if the brands didn't fit inside a corporate portfolio and meet criteria that include efficiencies, the buy wouldn't make much sense to begin with.

When larger companies acquire smaller ones, consolidation is inevitable.

The process is no different nor more surprising from Remington concerning its family of companies than Smith & Wesson integrating the Thompson/Center operations into its Springfield, Massachusetts headquarters. Stock analysts I've spoken with have made it abundantly clear they'd like S&W stock better if T/C's facilities went away altogether. Fortunately, the analysts don't run companies, they observe them.

If smaller companies were operating efficiently and/or profitably, they would most likely not be candidates for takeover. It is their inherent inefficiencies which make them candidates for acquisition, despite any historical standing. Ultimately, companies exist to make money for owners, whether they be private or public. If a new owner thinks they can change profit-and-loss statements with consolidation, consolidation is inevitable.

For the company founded by John M. Marlin in 1870, it's a change in the kind of ownership lineage that has remained tied to New Haven and Connecticut communities. After acquiring Marlin from its original owner, the Kenna family owned and operated the company for nearly eighty-five years. Remington is the first corporate owner.

At this writing, it seems Marlin, Harrington and Richardson, New England Firearms and L.C. Smith- all Marlin brands -are destined for absorption into Remington's existing manufacturing facilities in Ilion, New York. Such a move would maximize use of that facilities and consolidate manufacturing operations. Consolidation is another efficiency necessary to compete with imported products.

Although it's purely speculation on my part, a consolidation move makes perfect sense if you're demonstrating lean operating abilities as part of some sort of market capitalization move. Bankers and investors are quite fond of consolidated operations, especially if the company happens to represent numerous iconic brands.

The key words for me are that Marlin is not moving offshore!

Key words to me are that the personnel are changing. Marlin has been a great company in the customer service area, I can't say the same thing about Remington. Also, the Illion plant is as old or older than the Marlin plant-- so what is the improvement?

The improvement....no union to deal with. No asshole liberal gov't. to deal with. Both are theives of hope and profitability. I can't believe it took this long for the weapons industry to move out....like most other companies did years ago.

Outdoor writer. Excellent post. Cogent and helpful

The Ilion facility has been under renovation since the 2008 relocation of Harrington & Richardson production in 2008.

http://www.uticaod.com/news/x1...ompetitive-situation

By JENNIFER BOGDAN
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Mar 31, 2010 @ 06:45 PM
ILION —

Just how likely is it that the jobs from a recently closed Connecticut firearms manufacturer owned by Remington Arms could come to the Ilion plant?

State and local officials Wednesday said it’s too early say, but some pointed to a similar plant closure that boded well for Ilion as reason to believe it could happen again.

“This is a very competitive situation,” Herkimer County IDA Executive Director Mark Feane said. “It’s safe to say it’s a similar situation, and we certainly hope the outcome will be just as good.”

On April 7, 2008, Remington announced it would close the Harrington and Richardson Firearms plant in Gardner, Mass., leaving 200 people out of work.

But by the month’s end, Remington announced a more than $11.5 million renovation project that would relocate 100 jobs from Gardner to Ilion. Empire State Development Corp. provided a $1.5 million JOBS now grant for the project.

Remington Arms Chief Marketing Officer Mark Hill said it was too early to know whether that situation would repeat itself.

“It’s safe to say we’re in the middle of negotiations,” Hill said. “When the time comes to make an announcement, we will do so, and it will be very clear.”

Last week, Marlin Firearms Co., based in North Haven, Conn., announced the plant with 265 employees will close by June 2011. Officials from Remington Arms, which acquired the North Haven company in 2007, said Marlin’s manufacturing operations would be relocated to an undetermined site.

County officials announced Tuesday they would begin conversations with Empire State Development Corporation, the county IDA and others in an effort to bring the jobs to Ilion.

Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, is aware of the Connecticut plant’s closure and has since had conversations with Remington officials about bringing those jobs to Ilion as well, Seward’s spokesman Jeff Bishop said.

“He’s reaching out to other to try to make it happen,” Bishop said. “He plans to do everything he can to bring those jobs here.”

As of December, about 900 people worked in the Ilion gun manufacturing plant, which dates back to the early 1800s.

Copyright 2010 The Observer-Dispatch. Some rights reserved

http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20080422-5.html

New jobs coming to Mohawk Valley at Remington Arms Ilion facility

ALBANY - Remington Arms will add 100 new manufacturing jobs as part of a major renovation of their Ilion Firearms Plant and Custom Shop. The 192-year-old facility, which is the Mohawk Valley’s largest employer and the nation’s longest continuous manufacturer, will undergo a $14.3 million renovation, with $3 million provided jointly by Empire State Development and the New York State Senate.

ESD will provide a $1.5 million JOBS Now capital grant to assist in the relocation and consolidation of the Harrington & Richardson Firearms’ manufacturing facility, which is currently located in Gardner, Massachusetts. Both Remington and H&R were acquired by the private equity firm Cerberus in the past year. The County of Herkimer may also apply for a $734,000 Small Cities grant on behalf of Remington Arms to be applied to costs associated with this project.

The New York State Senate will provide a $1.5 million grant to be used by Remington Arms for capital costs associated with the renovations and new equipment purchase.

Remington Arms designs, produces and sells sporting goods products for the hunting and shooting sports markets, as well as for military, government and law enforcement.

wrongtarget:

It is ironic to this New Yorker that I have to rely on what a poster from some 3000 miles away tells me about my own state -and I thank you. I Found it even more ironic that a NY State agency and also the NY State Senate is providing funds to a gun manufacturing plant. Of course, I approve - but the irony is that NY has some of the most restrictive laws in the US about ownership of firearms. Oh, well, I guess I should be grateful for small blessings -but the hypocrisy of politicians never ceases to amaze me.

Politicians are just that.