Jobs Begin Leaving Milan Arsenal
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Hundreds of workers at Milan’s Army Ammunition Plant are bracing for layoffs. American Ordnance is moving production facilities from Milan to Iowa, but company officials said that does not mean the buildings will stay empty forever. Officials with the plant told 7 Eyewitness News that even though they have to lay off workers now, they hope many of them will be hired right back by the commercial companies moving in. Jeff Parrish, one of the workers who will lose his job, said his faith is what is keeping him surprisingly calm during this tough transition. “You struggle with the thoughts of what you’ll do, whether it’s been six months or 30 years, and there’s always the question of what you’ll do in the future. I try not to worry about it,” said Parrish, who has worked for Milan’s plant for 32 years. American Ordnance said about 100 workers will be laid off by the end of April and 350 more by the end of June. In all, 400 permanent jobs will be lost, out of 650 employees. The company has already started moving some of the production equipment to Iowa. “The cost implications of remaining the way we were with the amount of ammunition that was going to be purchased, it was just too prohibitive to leave the two plants the way they were,” said Bruce Niven, Vice President of American Ordnance. So they are making the Milan plant more commercial. Niven said six companies have already moved in, and one is looking to expand. He said the plant is currently in talks with 16 to 20 more companies looking to become tenants too. “For Milan, the mission going forward is to bring in tenants that will hopefully hire our employees and offset the job loss to the community,” Niven said. Officials said the commercial companies could bring 300 to 400 jobs to the plant in the next couple of years, and hope most of the displaced workers will be rehired. Niven said they have recently opened a resource center at the plant, where displaced workers can get training and look for jobs. He said of the tenants will have a job fair in the next couple of weeks.
