U.S. Repeating Arms announces plans to close Winchester plant
By MATT APUZZO
Associated Press Writer
January 17, 2006, 2:23 PM EST
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- U.S. Repeating Arms said Tuesday that it is preparing to close its flagship factory in New Haven, where Winchester rifles have been made for 140 years.
The announcement touched off a lobbying effort by city officials and union leaders who hoped to find someone to buy the plant before it closes March 31.
"It's part of who we are as a nation just like it's part of who we are as a city. It's the gun that won the West," Mayor John DeStefano said. "What are we going to have, Winchester rifles manufactured in China? Is this what we're coming to?"
Everett Corey, a representative of the International Association of Machinists District 26, said 186 workers will lose their jobs if the plant closes. The company said it had more than 19,000 workers during World War II.
"Several generations have worked at this place, a lot of fathers and brothers, sons, uncles and daughters," said Paul DeMennato, facility director at U.S. Repeating Arms. "A lot of marriages were people who met at Winchester."
U.S. Repeating Arms, which is owned by the Herstal Group, a Belgium company, has said for years that it was on the brink of closing the plant. The company said sales have fallen off steadily.
DeMennato said the company is negotiating the sale of its plant. The Winchester name is owned by Missouri-based Olin Corp., which had sold U.S. Repeating Arms the right to use the name until next year.
Olin had no immediate word on its plans for the Winchester name.
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
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Associated Press
Winchester Rifle Plant Prepares to Close
By MATT APUZZO , 01.17.2006, 04:37 PM
U.S. Repeating Arms Co. Inc. said Tuesday it will close its Winchester firearm factory, threatening the future of a rifle that was once called "The Gun that Won the West."
"It's part of who we are as a nation just like it's part of who we are as a city," Mayor John DeStefano said.
The announcement touched off a lobbying effort by city officials and union leaders who hoped to find a buyer for the plant before it closes March 31. If no buyer comes forward, it could spell the end for nearly all commercially produced Winchesters, said Everett Corey, a representative of the International Association of Machinists District 26.
"Winchester would be pretty much defunct," he said. "They're not going to produce them, other than a couple custom-type models."
The company has been plagued by slumping firearm sales. More than 19,000 people worked there during World War II, but the plant employs fewer than 200 now.
The Winchester model 1873 lever action rifle was popular among American frontiersmen at the end of the 19th century for its reliability. John Wayne made the Winchester rifle a signature of his movies and Chuck Connors posed menacingly with his Winchester on the poster for the television series "The Rifleman."
"Marlin made lever-action rifles but nobody ever had a Marlin in films or TV series. They were always Winchesters," said Ned Schwing, a firearms historian.
Perhaps the company's greatest unofficial spokesman was President Teddy Roosevelt, who used the 1895 model on his famous 1909 African safari, which historians credited with boosting the sale of Winchester sporting rifles.
Since the plant opened in 1866, tens of millions of Winchester rifles have been produced, the bulk of which came between the late 1800s and the end of World War II, said firearms historian R.L. Wilson, who has written books about Winchester. More than six million copies of the Winchester Model 94, the company's most popular rifle, have been produced.
"Several generations have worked at this place, a lot of fathers and brothers, sons, uncles and daughters," said Paul DeMennato, facility director at U.S. Repeating Arms.
U.S. Repeating Arms, which is owned by the Herstal Group, a Belgium company, has said for years that it was on the brink of closing the plant.
DeMennato said the company is negotiating the plant's sale. Missouri-based Olin Corp. owns the Winchester brand name. In the late 1970s, after a massive strike by its machinists, Olin sold the plant to U.S. Repeating Arms along with the right to use the Winchester name until next year.
Olin had no immediate word on its plans for the Winchester name. DeMennato said he hopes the name will be sold along with the plant. Nobody at Herstal's headquarters in Belgium could be reached Tuesday afternoon.
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Related news from 1998 showing the issues long before this happend
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Published Friday, November 13, 1998
With chants of "Show us the jobs or show us the money" and "Don't throw good money after bad" resonating through St. Peter's Hall, the group Elm City Congregations Organized (ECCO) held a meeting last night accusing the U.S. Repeating Arms Company (USRAC) of backing down from an agreement made with the city and state.
New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. was present to discuss the issue with a panel of ECCO members.
In exchange for a $20 million assistance package offered in 1992, the company agreed to employ a minimum of 400 workers at its Science Park factory. At least 35 percent of these 400 employees had to be New Haven residents.
As of Tuesday, the plant had 353 employees, 46 percent of whom were New Haven residents.
Consequently, ECCO members asked for either more jobs or the return of tax money.
But USRAC officials said they cannot afford to hire any more employees.
"If we hired enough people to make the 400 mark, we would lose $2 million a year. Demand for our product has dropped 100,000 units or 35 percent since the agreement was made," said Hardy Merrill, Controller of USRAC.
Begun by Oliver Winchester as the New Haven Arms Company in 1856, the company has had its share of financial difficulties, including two bankruptcies in a four-year period from 1987 to 1991.
ECCO members asked the mayor last night to refuse to give USRAC tax abatements because they are not meeting their obligations.
But the mayor said that only the state has already provided the USRAC with tax breaks. The city's package for tax abatements will not begin until 1999, and he does not plan make any decisions until then.
The city and company signed an agreement Tuesday night stating "the level of 400 full-time employees shall remain -- but as a target, not a requirement."
Members of ECCO said the amendment gives too many concessions to the business.
"This is really a dreadful agreement. So when he tells us about the new agreement, we tell him we liked the old one," ECCO member Rev. Lillian Daniel said.
But even the ECCO members agreed that the USRAC has not been successful enough to maintain their workforce.
ECCO member Ian Skoggard pointed at a timeline to document the company's history over the past 150 years.
"This chart shows a company not in the best health. If this were a medical chart, this patient would not be in good shape. Actually, it died on the operating table twice. The mayor should look for healthy companies for New Haven," Skoggard said.
Ownership of the company has changed several times since USRA purchased it in 1981. Former owners include the French government (GIAT) and the F.N. Herstal Group, a Belgian firm. The government of Wallonia, Belgium is the current owner after purchasing the F.N. Herstal Group last year for $303 million.
The French government kept the factory in New Haven after purchasing the USRAC in 1991 rather than relocating it to South Carolina because of the financial package offered by the City and State, according to a letter from Mayor John DeStefano addressed to members of the New Haven Community and Labor Coalition.
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