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Gates Corp. prepares to shutter Moncks Corner plant
By Staff reports
Denver-based Gates Corp. is closing its timing belt manufacturing plant in rural Moncks Corner, ending a 22-year relationship with the Lowcountry and eliminating almost 200 local jobs.
“We are in a very competitive business, both here and internationally. We regret having to consider any plant closing,” Brian Harris, president of Gates Power Transmission Group, said in a statement released early this month.
Gates Corp. will begin paring the 197-employee payroll in early September with layoffs to follow for an additional five to six months, said Meg VanderLaan, vice president of corporate communications and public affairs. The company is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009.
The move is not a reflection on the performance of plant employees or plant operations, Harris said. “Moncks Corner has been in operation for a long time, and we respect and appreciate our long-standing relationship with our employees and the community,” he said.
Gates Corp. has operated the local plant since 1986 after purchasing the facility from tire manufacturer Uniroyal.
Workers at the Berkeley County facility produce rubber timing belts for vehicles and large machinery such as John Deere tractors and combines, as well as for other products such as copiers.
Gates is owned by Tomkins PLC, a United Kingdom-based global engineering company with 34,000 employees. The manufacturer will continue to meet all of its contract commitments without interruption, VanderLaan said.
Equipment from the local plant will be relocated across North America, but “right now, it’s too early to explain what will be happening with the (jobs),” she said.
Last summer, the facility moved about 28 jobs to Toluca, Mexico; and Ashe County, N.C.
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