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115 left without jobs after Owosso plant closes
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Saturday, July 1, 2006 8:48 AM EDT
Argus-Press Photo/Anthony Cepak Equipment is moved out of Engineered Plastic Products and loaded on trucks Thursday afternoon, the day before the plant’s last day of operation.
OWOSSO CHARTER TWP. - Kirk Ashmun and his wife Jennifer will no longer be taking their 9-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son up north for the holiday weekend.
After two years of employment, Ashmun spent his last day at the Engineered Plastic Products, Inc. plant on South Chestnut Street loading trucks with the machinery he once used for shipment to Cadence Innovations in Clinton Township. The 8-year-old EPP plant, which produced injection-molded interior automotive parts, terminated operations because of bankruptcy.
“We've had to basically cut all spending, get the necessities and nothing more,” said Ashmun who was a die-setter.
The company filed for a reorganization bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in March. According to EPP Human Resources Director Vianessa Shephard, the company's customers, General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG, did not accept the reorganization plan that would have allowed the plants to remain open. Without the reorganization plan, EPP returned to court Tuesday and was forced into liquidation.
“We were all under the impression that someone was going to buy (the plant), and then Monday they said, ‘Everyone come to the forman's office - you no longer have jobs,'” Ashmun said.
The closure also came as a shock because he had been told the company would be coming out of bankruptcy by mid-summer.
“I went to an interview today and didn't even have a resumé ready,” he said.
Chloetta Cerny of Owosso must also start looking for a new job after working at the plant for 22 years. The quality control inspector is upset over the closure and the lack of severance and vacation pay.
Although Ashmun would like to stay a resident of Owosso, he does not see it being feasible.
“There aren't enough well-paying jobs in Owosso. I'll probably end up moving because of gas prices,” Ashmun said.
He also sees the closure of the plant as a blow to not just the employees, but also the community as more jobs leave the area. Starting his job search yesterday, Ashmun plans to continue looking throughout the summer.
“It's all I can do. I have two kids and a wife to feed and a mortgage to pay,” he said.