Remington moving to Huntsville AL

[JSH1]

People see what they want to see. There are a lot of people on THR that want to see companies move out of the North East whether it makes financial sense or not.

There is another factor keeping Remington in Illion, New York - pollution. Any factory that has been operating since the 1800's has a huge amount of ground contamination. Remington will never be able to sell that land to anyone without demolishing the buildings and spending million and millions to remove and dispose of the contaminated soil. If they let the building sit vacant they will still be paying New York property taxes on that complex. Labor is a small fraction of the total production cost of an item. Better to pay a slightly better wage and keep the factory in production than to pay to move all of the equipment, train a new workforce, and still pay taxes on the vacant factory.

A company the size of Remington doesn't do anything for spite, it is all about profits per share. Their stockholders don't care what happens all long as the money keeps flowing.

 

[Potatohead]

It's surprising how many folks from Huntsville are on this forum.

I was in both JCs and Larry's Saturday. The news media had both covered up, interviewing folks coming out of the stores. For a little while I had forgotten about the new plant and thought something bad had happened.

Hey Ten,
I was in JCs Sat too! Got a LB of 7625, 20% off ya know! Mightve seen you. We're gonna need to start wearing THR name tags soon.

 

[Potatohead]

[thread drift]
If that is true, I question the wisdom of that move. That is a half-million dollars per job.
How long does it take to recoup that in tax revenue?
[/thread drift]

I have a deleted email with the info from a friend. I'll try to post it. I read 9 mill.

 

[Potatohead]

This is a quote from Newschannel 19 (local news channel) at WHNT.com

"Money helped convince gun maker Remington to move to Huntsville. Alabama will shell out 50 million. The city of Huntsville will pay 9.5 million to buy the facility where Remington will set up shop, there's also a financial incentive to encourage full time hiring."

 

[TenDriver]

Hey Ten,
I was in JCs Sat too! Got a LB of 7625, 20% off ya know! Mightve seen you. We're gonna need to start wearing THR name tags soon.

Could be. I was in there right before closing. Bought some AA2015 and No. 9 along with some primers. 20% off made the prices reasonable IMHO.

 

[Potatohead]

Agreed. I was in there at about 3 pm. Got some Tulammo SPPs on the cheap too.

Oh yea, back on topic Remington is coming to Huntsville.

 

[Quickdraw Limpsalot]

At this point too many are reading too much into the "move".
The release I got from Remington today says "expansion", no mention of a move.
2000 new jobs in Huntsville over the next ten years.

This so far is just opening another plant, like the one in Kentucky.
Nobody official at Remington or in Alabama's saying anything about closing down Ilion or leaving NY.
Denis

Then let me be the first to tell you... it's happening. ~60 employees in Elizabethtown, KY at Remington's standalone R&D facility were told yesterday that their jobs were moving to Huntsville and management "hoped all the employees would join them there." Get ready, Ilion.

 

[Jim Watson]

Remington may not be closing down Ilion but if they put all their expansion and modernization in Alabama (and Arkansas, more ammo production at or near Loneoke) then the old headquarters will become less relevant to operations and probably let fade away due to attrition of personnel and products.

We have a chemical plant here (also in Alabama) which lost its main product line to another location and is operating about 15% of the previous capacity on a specialty item. I see a similar effect at Remington - NY.

 

[JSH1]

The corporate headquarters for Remington is located in Madison, North Carolina.

 

[Ivy Mike]

I don't know what folks think about our part of the ''FLY OVER COUNTRY" but as far as pay goes Alabamans get paid well. If they don't its thier own fault. Not every one can work for Ronald Mc Donald or for that matter NASA either. Work quality has much to do with work ethics. For this area of N. Alabama work ethic is paramount.

I lived on post at Redstone for a while and worked for a contractor shortly after leaving the Army, whos office was also on post. The work force in Huntsville is just what Remington needs.

The union needs to be less political. The labor unions were needed for safety and fair pay. Now after becomming more and more political they will potentially loose more and more gound untill no work force will align with them. For the most part most NASA workers are union but are non-political. That should be the model!

A sizable number of unions in this country have paid attention to the lessons taught to all workers (union and not) by the recession as well as lessons learned from the UAW and more recently the BCTGM (bakers union) with the Hostess bankruptcy. They learned that it pays much more to work with the company instead of sitting on the back of the company while it sinks deeper and deeper. They learned that companies who barely hung on during the recession aren't as willing to follow the boom and bust cycle and have focused more on stability. A stable company is better for all workers even if you don't get the pay raises and full benefits package you once did. Unions realized that being belligerent about these things means companies will take a loss up front to locate new production in non-union areas and let the old contracts expire in order to maintain profitability later on.

Many of us union guys take pride in our work and know that our jobs are highly prized. We turn out the best we can and most of us do NOT want to follow the example set by the UAW.

 

[DPris]

Remington's spread out all over already, in NY, NC and Kentucky.
The new Alabama plant does not in any way mean Ilion's being shut down.

Some shuffling will occur, but Remington's not leaving NY anytime soon.
Denis

 

[Deog]

But will they bring back the 1894ss, and in a quality that is acceptable. The learning curve was 5 years after take over and they still can not get it right, will it be another 5 years before anyone thinks a well put together firearm comes off the line. The Marlin name is mud in the industry, this could just be one more nail in the coffin.

 

[ironworkerwill]

Clean97 I too work a union shop. We did at one time get regular visits, from union reps, wanting us to vote Democrat. After this embarrassment of a president and liberal gun hating cabinet it's a non issue.

 

[Ky Larry]

Will Rem make only guns at the Huntsville plant? Will they also make junk rimfire ammo? Are we sure they will make guns? It could be a distribution center for T-shirts, pocket knives, ball caps, duck calls, and all the other Chinese crap they sell. Time will tell. Doesn't look like they will ever get around to fixing their QC problems.

 

[HexHead]

Time will tell. Doesn't look like they will ever get around to fixing their QC problems.

Have you considered the reason the QC at the Ilion plant is sketchy at best is because they have a bunch of union workers that don't give a crap knowing it's practically impossible to fire them?

 

[DPris]

The .357 1894's due to be re-introduced around the end of April.
They're making some progress.
Denis

 

[Ky Larry]

HexHead, do you know for a fact their QC problems are caused by lazy union workers? I worked in a union shop for 27 years. Our QC was the highest in a mu8lti-billion $ industry. Now I'm retired with a pension and healthcare. Please be careful your paintbrush doesn't get too wide. Have a nice evening.

 

[Double_J]

I would love to see remington go to Huntsville. I have a few friends up that way, and I am sure they would jump ship for the right amount of money. That area is very strange in that it is the deep south, but it is also fairly union. I don't have a problem with union labor, until I see the union protection get abused by members. I have seen it happen at two different jobs and really did not agree with how those situations were handled, but most high-tech manufacturing union guys actually WANT to do a good job and not get into a tussle with management.

I can't wait to see just what changes might be made in the next few years as the deep south starts to grow as a manufacturing powerhouse. Now if we could just keep those Dang Urban/Suburban Yankees out of town so we can keep the neighborhood looking like it always has and keep taxes reasonable.

 

[B!ngo]

So I'd be best characterized as an issue specific liberal, tend to vote democratic and have a pretty open mind but I do agree that many state and federal leaders are going more than a bit too far in creating societies that don't conform to the priorities of their citizens and follow political correctness to a fault.
I think what Remington is doing is a great thing. Ultimately the only way to affect these actions is to vote, vote, vote and to show disagreement by taking an economic stand. No state can easily afford to lose 2000 jobs but that is what is happening. Good for them.
Additionally, today I sadly see Remington as a hollowed out remnant of the past, living on their old fumes and not innovating or taking advantage of the technology revolution. Perhaps by leaving their old haunts and starting a bit fresh they will be able to rise to a competitive and laudable competency level.
B

 

[B!ngo]

That's very true Jerry. What would make it hurt is if they moved the corporate headquarters to a free state. NY losing all of Remington's taxes might make people rethink their positions come election time.

You bet. They should move the whole darn thing.
B

 

[Jim K]

It is ironic that NY state is running ads on TV to bring business to the state, while the governor is declaring that there is "no place in my state" for conservatives. Since most businessmen tend to be conservative, I suspect the governor's insane rant will have more influence than the weasel words of his flacks.

Jim

 

[JSH1]

What would make it hurt is if they moved the corporate headquarters to a free state.

Again - The corporate headquarters for Remington is located in Madison, North Carolina.

 

[twofifty]

.....
Additionally, today I sadly see Remington as a hollowed out remnant of the past, living on their old fumes and not innovating or taking advantage of the technology revolution. Perhaps by leaving their old haunts and starting a bit fresh they will be able to rise to a competitive and laudable competency level.
B

yeah. Let's not forget that Remington is not a company, it's a brand owned by the Freedom Group, owned in turn by Cerberus Capital.

Apparently Cerberus had Remington up for sale last Fall. I think the Manhattan elevator operator at Cerberus' NYC office will know Remington's fate before Remington's executives do.

 

[REB]

Will Rem make only guns at the Huntsville plant? Will they also make junk rimfire ammo? Are we sure they will make guns? It could be a distribution center for T-shirts, pocket knives, ball caps, duck calls, and all the other Chinese crap they sell. Time will tell. Doesn't look like they will ever get around to fixing their QC problems.

From what we are hearing locally it will be manufacturing and R&D. What they will be manufacturing is still a big question. They are moving into an existing Chrysler assembly plant that produced electronics, not sure how that relates to manufacturing in the firearm or ammunition industry.

 

[steve4102]

I don't have a problem with union labor, until I see the union protection get abused by members. I have seen it happen at two different jobs and really did not agree with how those situations were handled, but most high-tech manufacturing union guys actually WANT to do a good job and not get into a tussle with management.

Never seen that myself. I grew up in United Steelworkers country and worked construction for over 30 years. Maybe some day I'll see be able to get a gimps of it, but I will not be holding my breath.