Wrayco Industries, a Stow manufacturer that specializes in leakproof vessels for heavy construction equipment such as fuel and hydraulic tanks, has notified its employees that it is shutting down in 60 days.
An employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of losing his job before the plant shuts down, said employees were gathered on the docks Thursday afternoon and given the news.
The employee, who has worked at the facility on Seasons Road in Stow for about 10 years, said the news came as a surprise to some, but not to others.
“We’ve been trending downward for quite a while,” he said.
Company customers have included Caterpillar, Volvo and Case New Holland.
He estimated that about 79 employees still work at the plant. A Beacon Journal story in 2008 said 260 were employed there.
Stow Mayor Sara Kline said the city had not been given official notice of the closure, but she was not surprised.
“We knew they had been having some troubles,” Kline said Friday morning after hearing the news from a reporter. “Unfortunately, this doesn’t surprise me, but I wish it hadn’t come to this.”
The company was originally founded in 1980 by Bobbie and Willard Wray and son-in-law Gary Gibb.
Kline said the company, which was sold several years ago to a firm out of Tennessee, has been trying to make some changes.
“They had been sold and were doing some things to try to right the ship, but I think from what I’ve heard, it seems they just decided they had challenges that were insurmountable,” she said.
In 2010, the Stow Community Improvement Corp. awarded a $1.2 million loan to Wrayco for a seven-year term. The loan was to support buying machinery and equipment to be leased to Wrayco Industries. The $1.7 million project was expected to retain 108 jobs.
City officials will be ready to help displaced employees work with county officials to find new work, Kline said.
The employee said no severance packages have been offered to hourly employees, but assistance in finding new jobs has been offered. The timing before the holidays is tough, he said.
“I’m going to ride it till the end — till the wheels fall off — but I’m not going to lose track and go start [job] hunting,” he said.
Phone messages seeking comment were left for the Stow Wrayco plant manager and the president of SFI, based in Memphis, Tenn., Wrayco’s parent company.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty