Longtime upstate NY fire truck factory Saulsbury to close

[x635 4,066]

Longtime upstate fire truck factory to close

(Preble - AP 7/1/04) — Saulsbury Fire Rescue Incorporated will close its upstate New York firetruck factory by the end of the year.

The closing will eliminate 205 jobs and end 56 years of firetruck manufacturing in Cortland County.

E-One Incorporated, which bought the company from the Saulsbury family in 1998, says the closing is a result of lean manufacturing initiatives, which have lowered overhead costs and created excess production capacity at its headquarters in Ocala, Florida.

The company announced plans yesterday to move production of all Saulsbury-branded stainless steel rescue trucks to Ocala by the end of the year.

Bill Carroll, general manager of the Preble factory, located 20 miles south of Syracuse, says about 150 of the plant's 205 employees will be offered jobs in Ocala

Worst thing Saulsbury ever did was sell to E-One. Another great fire truck company, and upstate NY town, becomes the victim of corporate America :cry:

Just to add, Saulsbury closed in 1998 when they sold, in my eyes. E-One ruined this great innovative and legendary company.

[1075thebox 1]

Didn't they make airplanes or something at that plant?

[Stench60 29]

Truly a shame, but as you say once E-One purchased them they went downhill almost immediately.

I don't blame corporate america for this one, I blame the fire service for buying that garbage that's sold by E-One. I'd be the first to admit that "they don't build them the way used to" and you can't expect the kind of workmanship you had prior to 1970 ,but let's face facts, everything that E-One ever built that I had the misfortune to either work with or observe was a lemon.

[x635 4,066]

Here's a more comprehensive article:

Firetruck plant in Preble to close 

Shutdown of Saulsbury Fire Rescue Inc. means 205 jobs will be lost. 

Thursday, July 01, 2004

By Rick Moriarty 

Staff writer 

In the end, nothing could rescue Saulsbury Fire Rescue Inc. from the reality of today's business world. 

The firetruck maker said Wednesday it will close its manufacturing plant in Preble, off Interstate 81 south of Tully, by the end of the year. The closing will eliminate 205 local jobs and end 56 years of firetruck manufacturing in Cortland County. 

E-One Inc., which bought the company from the Saulsbury family in 1998, said the closing was made possible because of the success of lean manufacturing initiatives, which have lowered overhead costs and created excess production capacity at its headquarters in Ocala, Fla. 

The company plans to move production of all Saulsbury-branded stainless steel rescue trucks to Ocala by the end of the year. The move will occur in phases as trucks in production in Preble are finished. 

E-One President Harold Pinto delivered the bad news to Saulsbury employees Wednesday afternoon at the plant. 

He said the move in no way reflected on the quality of the work force in Preble. 

"Competitive business conditions require us to constantly improve and adapt to a changing environment in order to prosper," he said. "These changes cause unfortunate employee displacements from time to time." 

The closure of the Preble facility is the second E-One manufacturing consolidation. The company closed its remote aerial truck production plant in Ocala earlier this year. 

Bill Carroll,general manager of the Preble facility, said about 150 of the plant's 205 employees will be offered jobs in Ocala, which is about a 11/2-hour drive north of Orlando. 

Employees who will be offered jobs in Ocala include engineers, supervisors, sales representatives, electricians, welders and plumbers. Carroll said he did not know how many would accept the offer. 

"It's tough," he said. "A lot of people are from here." 

Linda Hartsock, executive director of the Cortland County Business Development Corp., said the loss of 205 jobs will be a blow to the county, especially coming on the heels of the closing of the Buckbee-Mears aperture mask plant in Cortland and the loss of its 200 jobs. 

She said the county will work with Saulsbury employees to get them training for new jobs or to start their own businesses. 

Saulsbury's announcement did not come as a surprise to economic development officials, who knew something might happen after E-One's parent, Federal Signal Corp., reported a $15.4 million drop in sales and a $4.3 million drop in profits in the first three months of this year, compared with the same period last year. 

At the same time, the company reported an increase in its long-term debt and a decrease in its operating cash. It said last month it planned to focus on consolidations and cost-savings as a way to improve its finances. 

After hearing that, Cortland County officials enlisted the state's aid in an attempt to keep the Preble plant open. 

Hartsock said the state Department of Labor offered to work with the company to secure work force development money. And the Cortland County Business Development Corp. and Cortland County Zone Administrative Board fast-tracked an Empire Zone boundary amendment that would make the plant eligible for a host of state tax credits, she said. 

But E-One's corporate management rejected all offers of assistance, she said. 

Saulsbury FireRescue was founded by Fancher L. "Sam" Saulsbury in 1948. A former machinist and fire chief, Saulsbury took the opportunity to combine his skills at a state firefighters convention when his truck crashed into another. He designed and built a replacement vehicle: a state-of-the-art tanker truck. 

Before long, other departments in the region began requesting their own "Saulsbury" trucks, prompting most of the Saulsbury family to join the fledgling business, according to the company's Web site. 

The company opened a $3 million plant, headquarters, retail store and expansive training center in Preble in 1988, more than doubling the space of its previous plant. 

Saulsbury built 10 trucks for the New York City Fire Department to replace some of the 65 the department lost in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.