Rough Year for Rockford

Jason Sandefur

2003 was a tough year for Rockford, IL, known for decades as the industrial fastener capital of the world. Unemployment in Rockford, which lost 20% of its manufacturing jobs during the last two years, reached 11% � nearly double the national average. Many businesspeople concede that most of those 10,000 jobs are gone forever, lost to cheaper labor overseas.
Rockford�s fastener industry took a heavy blow when Textron Fastening Systems announced the closure of four Rockford plants and the relocation of about 1,000 jobs to other TFS facilities around the world. Textron has operated in Rockford for half a century and, at one point, employed 2,200 workers in the city. Now TFS has two factories and a technology center left in the area.
TFS communications director Tim Weir told FIN the closures were part of parent company Textron Inc.�s restructuring effort launched in 2000. Weir emphasized that his company was consolidating capacity, not production, and that the closures were necessary to remain competitive.
There was positive news associated with Rockford this year. In October Japanese-American manufacturer Rocknel Fasteners Inc. opened a new 78,000 sq ft building in the city to house a $2.2 million plating line. But that expansion is only expected to add 15 jobs in the next few years.
Many Face Uncertain Future
Other companies, however, face an uncertain future.
Acme Grinding Inc. dodged a bullet when it was acquired at the 11th hour by an undisclosed Rockford firm. Acme, which grinds or finishes fasteners for the auto industry, was set to close its doors at the end of November, but general manager Kevin Thompson told FIN that Acme Grinding will continue to operate in the same location under new ownership and current management.
�Acme has been around for 57 years. As long as any of my [eight] people have a job, it�s a good thing,� he stated.
Former owner Judy Pike, who was with Acme Grinding for 38 years, had told the Boston Globe in October that she would shut the business down unless she could sell what was left of the operation. Pike scaled back work hours and laid off 33 of her 40 employees as production dried up over the past two years.
�If I was 40, I would hang in there and take out a second mortgage, but I�m 63, I can’�t see any light at the end of the tunnel, and it�s time to think how I�m going to manage my retirement,� Pike stated.
�A lot of the fastening business is going to China,� she continued. �It costs U.S. manufacturers more to buy the materials than it costs the Chinese to produce them.�
According to acmegrinding.com, the company operated 30 machines in a 15,000 sq ft facility at the height of its business. TFS accounted for 35% of Acme�s business. When TFS decided to relocate production Pike knew the end for her was near.
�We�ve had other recessions, and you could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It wasn�t like jobs weren�t coming back,� Pike stated. �This time, the lights are going off.�\ �2003 FastenerNews.com