Auto parts maker to close Ohio operation

82 employees to lose jobs at Williams Co. plant

1/28/2014

EDON, Ohio — A national auto parts maker has notified the state of Ohio that its Williams County manufacturing plant will officially close on April 1, resulting in the loss of 82 jobs.

Chassix of Southfield, Mich., notified employees and the state last April that it planned to close the operations of Diversified Machine Inc., located in Edon about 75 miles west of Toledo, sometime in February of this year.

The company cited deteriorating economic conditions as the reason for the closure. In 2012 the company saw its long-term contract to make parts for Ford Motor Co. end, and a new customer was not found.

Despite attempts by United Electrical Workers Local 715, which represents workers at the plant, to find ways to keep the facility open, the decision could not be reversed.

On Jan. 15, the company filed a Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services indicating that March 31 will be the last day of operation and that the facility will be closed on April 1.

The filing indicated that 82 employees, including 61 machine operators, would lose their jobs.

In May, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) attempted to intervene by making a written plea to Chassix officials to make new investments in the facility.

But in December, Chassix, which is a foundry and machining group formed last year by a combination of Diversified Machine and SMW Automotive LLC, reaffirmed that it would close the Edon plant. A second Diversified Machine plant in Milwaukee also is being closed, resulting in the loss of 218 jobs.

The Edon plant makes brackets, control arms, driveline yokes, housing, knuckles, transmission components, and wheel hubs. It also has assembly capabilities.