“Welcome to corporate America.” That from a caller to WOMT‘s “open mike” show on news that Manitowoc Company is taking 528 production jobs out of the city and moving them to Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
“You reap what you sow,” the caller said. “Nowadays all they worry about is the bottom line. There’s no consideration on what effect it will have on their employees or anything like that.”
Another caller said the decision to move the jobs is based on the bottom line. “Shareholders want to have a return on their investment. And that’s often what drives executives to do what they do . . . or they’re out of a job.”
Movement of crawler crane manufacturing jobs to an existing Manitowoc facility in rural Shady Grove, Pennsylvania is scheduled to begin later this year with completion targeted for the middle of next year.
Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels and Manitowoc County Exec Bob Ziegelbaur have said they’ll issue statements on Friday.
Alderman Chris Able said the city has reached out to see what can be done. “We also do not know of any contact they made with the state before they made this decision to see what assistance there could be there,” Able said. “The city has learned its lesson with Mirro, and we will be keeping a watchful eye as they shut things down, to make sure we don’t let anything become as derelict or abandoned as the Mirro property became.”
Manitowoc Company has been a fixture in the city since its founding in 1902. The company acquired the Grove Crane company, where the production is being moved, for approximately $271 million in 2002. Corporate headquarters and the company’s product engineering and related support functions are expected to remain in Manitowoc. The company said the move is expected to lead to $25 million to $30 million in savings.