Indiana site to add 70 jobs from Fypon in Archbold

10/7/2010
BLADE STAFF

A distribution center for a plastic molding and product maker is leaving Archbold next year to be consolidated with a related business unit in Indiana.

Fypon in Archbold plans to move 70 jobs to Indiana under a consolidation plan with Maumee-based Therma-Tru Corp.

Fypon, which makes urethane millwork, and Therma-Tru, which makes fiber-glass and steel exterior doors, are owned by Fortune Brands. The parent company announced plans last year to consolidate the two companies to save costs.

Fypon's local distribution facility in Fulton County, which has 70 employees, will merge with Therma-Tru's distribution facility in Angola, Ind., which has 30 employees.

The jobs will be moved to a facility in Howe, Ind., which will hold 100 employees.

"Jobs in Howe will be offered to all current Archbold and Angola associates," Therma-Tru President David Randich said in a statement issued Wednesday.

The Blade last week published a three-day investigative series, Shut Down & Shipped Out, which revealed that about 140 factories with 20 or more employees have closed in northwest Ohio dating back to 2000, totaling about 18,000 lost jobs.

At least 52 companies relocated work elsewhere within the United States, and 37 shifted work to another country.

In the last two years, northwest Ohio lost at least 15 factories with 2,200 employees to other states, including four to Indiana.

Fypon will begin moving to the new facility in the first quarter of next year, and the move is expected to be complete by October, 2011.

Therma-Tru said it plans to offer "fair and equitable assistance" to Fypon employees who choose not to relocate to Indiana.

The Howe, Ind., site was selected because of its size, as well as accessibility to highways, rail lines, and loading docks, Therma-Tru's statement said.

Employees were notified of the consolidation plans Wednesday, according to a Therma-Tru spokesman.

The state of Indiana is offering $300,000 in performance-based tax credits and LaGrange County, where Howe is located, is expected to offer a grant and tax abatements, economic development officials there said.