After initially planning to permanently close its Stanfield Engineering Fixture facility this year, Stanley Black & Decker reversed its decision, informing Mayor Kevin Barbee last week that the plant would remain open.
In a letter to Barbee, Director of Operations Kent Shane wrote that the decision “reflects a change and serves as a warning that Stanley Black AND Decker has no plans to close the factory. “
Stanly News & Press previously reported in October that the company was planning to close “in an attempt to strategically consolidate our worldwide operations into fewer facilities,” according to the state worker adjustment and retraining notification report.
The closure would have occurred in several phases, with the forecast of 81 employees to be dismissed.
In the letter to Barbee, Shane wrote that the WARN warning dated 30 October last year “must now be disregarded”.
At a time when many companies across the country had to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the decision was a huge victory for Stanfield, as Stanley Engineered Fastening is the largest company on the outskirts of the city with over 90 employees, from according to City Administrator Bridgette Helms.
Calling the ad “a pleasant surprise,” Barbee said “it’s great in a small community to be able to keep jobs so that people can work locally”.
“We are delighted that decision makers at Stanley Engineered Fastening / Stanley Black and Decker in Stanfield have decided not to close the Stanfield facility,” said Candice Lowder, Director of the Stanly County Economic Development Commission. “Our office worked with the local team to help build a business case to keep the facility open and we appreciate our continued partnership with your leadership team.
“I believe that the low cost of doing business in Stanly County, the skilled and affordable workforce and ranking North Carolina as one of the best states for doing business were factors in the positive outcome of this retention effort,” added Lowder. “We appreciate the jobs and investment this company has generated in the past and hope to support its growth in the future.”
Stanley Engineered Fastening is a global company with 37 factories around the world, including 15 in North America. The Stanfield site manufactures products from the Avdel brand, which makes a variety of designed rivets, locking screws and fasteners.
Stanley Engineered Fastening is one of the 20 brands that make up the parent company, Stanley Black & Decker, an American Fortune 500 manufacturer of industrial tools, household hardware and a supplier of locks and security products.
The facility, on 614 NC Highway 200 South, has been producing blind fasteners since 1995, although under the ownership of many different companies. Initially it was Avdel Cherry Textron, followed by Acument Global Technologies and Infastech before becoming Stanley Engineered in 2013.
Stanly News & Press contacted the company for further comments.
About Chris Miller
Chris Miller has been on SNAP since January 2019. He graduated from NC State and received his master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Maryland. He previously wrote for the Capital News Service in Annapolis, where many of his stories on immigration and culture were published in national newspapers through the AP network.
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