DeWitt officials mull future without Irwin Tools

DeWitt village and economic development officials are ready to move forward to combat the effect the closing of the Irwin Industrial Tools plant will have on the community.

“It’s unfortunate that the rumors that we’ve been hearing for several years have come true,” Randy Badman, DeWitt Village Chairman, said. “Now there’s an opportunity to move on.”

The DeWitt Village Board received a fax from Irwin Company officials Wednesday officially announcing the closing of the DeWitt factory, Badman said. The plant, maker of Vise-Grip tools, is expected to close within 60 days of the announcement.

Irwin Industrial Tools, formerly Petersen Manufacturing Company, has been a part of the DeWitt community for more than 80 years, Badman said.

There is concern how the closure will affect the many plant employees and their families, the village of DeWitt and the surrounding areas, he said. Badman is also concerned about influences on Tri County School and existing DeWitt businesses.

Only six years ago, the village of DeWitt upgraded some of its utility services, such as sewer infrastructure, to better handle the needs of the plant, he said. The village still has existing loans for those upgrades and the money received from the plant for utility services went to the payment of those upgrades, Badman said.

“We are deeply concerned,” he said. “In the last 80 some years, we’ve never been without that factory. That’s why it’s imperative to move forward as quickly as we can.”

Tri County Schools is currently wondering what effect the plant will have on its future, Tri County School Superintendent Russ Finken said. They are also concerned about the families affected by the closing.

“Our biggest concern is the families, especially in these tough economic times,” Finken said. “We will certainly help in any way we can.”

It is not certain how many families in the district will be affected, Finken said. He was aware that about 70 percent of plant employees lived out of the district.

Financially, the school district will be affected by a small percentage as they received about $83,000 a year from personal property and real estate tax from Irwin Tools, according to the Saline County Treasurers office. The funding will not be affected this school year.

The total operating budget for the school district is about $5 million, Finken said.

Village Board officials have already started to get the ball rolling as they have made contact with Gage County Economic Development, the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, Nebraska Public Power District and other economic development organizations to bring in a business to take the place of Irwin Tools, Badman said.

“No one is sure what the future will bring,” Badman said. “But we do know if we sit around, we will surely fail.”

GCED and other economic development organizations will be aggressively looking for and pursuing new options and opportunities for the village of DeWitt, said Terri Dageford, GCED Director of Business and Industry.

“We have some challenges, but we have some opportunities,” she said. “We feel a new door is open and we can proceed.”

The area is in a good position to attract a new business, Dageford said. Not only is there an existing building, but there is an existing and capable workforce.

Meantime, the 330 employees affected by the closure will begin meeting with the Nebraska Workforce Development rapid response team in DeWitt on Thursday, said Terri Johnston, Nebraska Workforce Development Department of Labor.

There will be six rapid response team members in DeWitt Thursday to assist employees with information about applying for unemployment insurance and various other employment services.

There will also be invitations for employees to sign up for workshops, including resume and application preparation, to help them find employment, she said. These services are being compensated by the employer.

“We’re very good at providing services to dislocated workers,” Johnston said. “We’ll provide those services as soon as possible.”