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American LaFrance rescinds layoffs
By Shannon Cavanaugh
Contributing Writer
American LaFrance isn’t going anywhere, at least for now. The emergency vehicle manufacturing company, which occupies the facility DaimlerChrysler will soon use to assemble its Sprinter van, said it has an agreement with DaimlerChrysler to share the facility.
With this agreement, American LaFrance cancelled layoffs that would have affected 230 workers.
DaimlerChrysler plans to start retrofitting the facility by the first of the year but has agreed to allow American LaFrance to continue working in the building until mid-2007.
“With this agreement, we will not be moving the pumper and tanker body production currently at that facility to other American LaFrance locations as previously announced,” said American LaFrance President John Stevenson. “That manufacturing, and the several hundred jobs required to manage and operate it, will remain in Ladson and Jedburg, S.C. We have informed employees and cancelled layoff plans previously announced in early September.”
That is great news for employees and the state’s economy. American LaFrance would have sent work to plants in New York and Wyoming and laid off the employees. Stevenson called the decision to stay in North Charleston and retain its workforce “as marking an important milestone” for the future of the company.
Within the next few weeks, American LaFrance will announce its new owner and whether it will take its business and leave or look for a new facility in the Lowcountry. American LaFrance is the fifth largest producer of fire and emergency equipment in the United States and employs 538 in the Charleston area. Two months ago, Freightliner LLC, a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler, announced it was selling American LaFrance, which they purchased in 1995.
“We’ve haven’t signed the papers yet, but we’re very close to finding a buyer for American LaFrance,” said Jeffrey Fisher, director of corporate communications with Freightliner, headquartered in Portland, Ore. “Once the sale is complete, the new owners will decide on the production and where they relocate, if they keep the business in South Carolina, move it to Florida or 100 other places.”
The sale of ALF does not include the 460,000-square-foot building owned by Freightliner, a part of DaimlerChrysler. DaimlerChrysler recently announced it is spending $35 million to retool that facility and will hire 220 workers to assemble the next generation of Sprinter vans. DaimlerChrysler will assemble vans in unused floor place.
With DaimlerChrysler allowing American LaFrance to share space, Stevenson said the new owners of ALF will have the time and flexibility to determine where they will locate a new headquarters and manufacturing facility.
The potential new owners are currently considering sites in the Ladson/Charleston area.
Freightliner decided to divest itself of ALF after reviewing its product portfolio and business operations. Freightliner President and CEO Chris Patterson said, “We believe ALF business has growth and profitability potential, but we also believe this potential can be better realized by a company that can focus on ALF’s core markets.”
Six weeks ago ALF signed multi-year contracts with the cities of Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco. These contracts will result in the delivery of more than 100 vehicles. ALF has built fire and rescue apparatus for 175 years.
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