PLYMOUTH – A Plymouth manufacturer has suddenly shut its doors, taking its 110 workers and the city by surprise.
Many of them are upset the company didn't give proper notice of the plant closing. The federal WARN act says 60 days notice must be given for businesses with more than 100 employees. But there are exceptions and Whitley Products may fall under one of them.
The WARN act says a company does not have to give 2 months notice if doing that would ruin the opportunity to get new capital or business. After calls from WSBT, this brief statement was released by Whitley Products:
Please be advised that Whitley Products, Inc.’s senior lender has again refused to provide the necessary funding to enable Whitley to continue its operations. As a consequence, and with great regret, we must inform you that Whitley Products, Inc. has terminated operations, effective today. For our employees, this means that their employment is terminated, effective immediately.
Possession and control of all Whitley’s operating assets is now held by Keltic Financial Partners II, LP.
Based on e-mails between Plymouth officials, it doesn't look like the city had any idea of Whitley's plans to suddenly close.
Mayor Mark Senter told WSBT this is the 1st company to close in Plymouth in his five years in office.
Servicing its customers for over six decades, Whitley Products, which is headquartered in Warsaw and had facilities in Plymouth and Franklin, North Carolina, is the largest Tier Two supplier of precision tubular products to the diesel engine, agricultural equipment, off-highway, construction equipment and HVAC markets.
For more information about the WARN act, click here.
