Gas truck driver Grover Banks said Bruce’s shutting down has cost him money through commissions.(Jon Giffin The Vicksburg Post)

[10/9/03]PORT GIBSON The Bruce Hardwood flooring plant in Claiborne County will close for good, eliminating about 140 jobs in a county where joblessness is already high, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

About 25 people remained employed at the plant, though production had stopped, plant manager Reginald Whitfield said Wednesday. Maintenance and shipping of remaining products were continuing, he added.

Until Sept. 30, workers at the plant, on Bridewell Lane in east Port Gibson, had produced strips for hardwood flooring for about 18 years. The plant has been operated by Armstrong World Industries Inc., based in Lancaster, Pa.

The jobless rate in Claiborne, which has about 12,000 residents, had been as high as 15 percent during the summer before dropping to 12 percent in August. That’s about double the state average.

Port Gibson and Claiborne County officials had announced months ago Armstrong’s plans to close the plant at the end of September.

Armstrong management cited economic reasons for closing the plant, company spokesman Dorothy Brown-Smith said Wednesday.

Wood flooring accounts for nearly one-quarter of Armstrong’s sales, with other building products including floors, ceilings, ceramics and cabinets making up the remainder.

The company filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws in December 2000. It faces asbestos-related lawsuits, and in the fourth quarter of 2002 it reported an estimated liability for such litigation of $2.5 billion.

Leaving aside that amount, the company’s wood-flooring division, of which the Port Gibson plant was a part, reported operating earnings of $53 million during 2002, a year in which the company as a whole reported lower operating earnings, $22.6 million.

And the wood-flooring division’s reported results showed improvement from 2001 to 2002, with sales up 9.8 percent in 2002, to $719.3 million, and operating earnings up, by $52.1 million.

No Armstrong spokesman was available.

In their open letter, published in July, Claiborne County supervisors said county representatives had met with company officials beginning in March.

“For over a year, manufacturing plants throughout the United States were being evaluated by the corporate office to determine ways to cut costs, increase productivity and streamline operations,” they wrote.

“The Port Gibson plant-closing announcement is expected to be followed by other closing announcements as (Armstrong) emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and continues to streamline its manufacturing operations.”

The company moved the operation to Port Gibson from Texas, Claiborne County economic development director James Johnston said.

Armstrong received one of the 10-year tax abatements counties may grant, allowing businesses to pay only school taxes to the county during that time.

The plant’s most recent personal-property valuation is $5,993,234, about 11.5 percent of the county’s total such tax valuation for businesses of about $52 million, Claiborne County tax assessor’s office records show. Armstrong’s most recently recorded annual personal-property tax payment was $55,422.

Johnston said the company also received federal tax credits for choosing the location, and that county industrial bonds had been issued for the plant.

Whitfield, of Vicksburg, said he hoped to stay nearby, noting that Armstrong also has a tile-production facility in the Jackson area. Other employees of the plant are from Claiborne County and the surrounding area, including Fayette and Natchez, he said.

Whitfield said he could not comment on the reasons the plant closed, referring questions to Brown-Smith.

“Imports,” he said, referring to competing producers located in Brazil, Japan and elsewhere. “It’s hurting everybody.”

Suppliers to the plant were also feeling the effects of the closure. Grover Banks of Hermanville, a driver for Herring Gas company, said he delivered about 750 gallons each week to a storage tank at Bruce Hardwood for use in its forklifts and other equipment.

“They had a 1,000-gallon tank, and I was getting good commission off of it,” Banks said. “I was putting 700 to 800 gallons in there every week. A couple of weeks ago they said they didn’t want but 500 gallons. I don’t think I’m going to make another trip out there. I think that was my last 500.”

The Claiborne County location was one of Armstrong’s about 50 plants in 15 countries with about 16,000 employees.