Eastport factory to close; nearly 60 to lose jobs

EASTPORT – Nearly 60 employees were disappointed and upset to learn Friday that Little River Apparel will shut down its Eastport facility at the end of next week and they all will be out of work.

“I can go up to DHS and beg them for a few food stamps, but other than that I don’t know what I am going to do,” said Phyllis Kennard of Perry, who works in the hemming department at the plant that manufactures chemical warfare suits for the military. The suits have a cotton-nylon outer shell with a carbon-bead lining that absorbs chemical agents.

Little River Apparel is owned by Group Home Foundation Inc. of Belfast, a private, nonprofit agency that provides employment for the handicapped. It could not be determined Friday how many of the employees who work with programmable sewing machines or assemble the garments at the Eastport facility are disabled.

The company shares space with Creative Apparel of Belfast and Tex Shield Inc. of Mount Laurel, N.J., at the former Guilford of Maine Mill on Route 191. Little River Apparel moved into the 72,000-square-foot building after Guilford of Maine closed its textile mill in 1997, idling 100 workers.

“This was not a happy decision,” Harold Siefken, chief executive officer of Group Home Foundation Inc., said Friday afternoon.

He said the company’s latest contract with the Department of Defense is about a third smaller than the previous contract.

“The numbers fall from approximately 12,000 [suits] a month to about 8,000 a month and there just are not enough suits to keep both plants running,” he said. Production is expected to continue at the Belfast facility, which employs about 150 people.

Asked if the federal government gave a reason for the cutback, Siefken said there are five manufacturers nationally “and right now there is more manufacturing capacity than there are federal dollars to buy those suits.”

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a $728,000 grant to the Washington County Association for Retarded Citizens to create nine units of housing in Calais for people who are developmentally or physically disabled. The grant also included funds to help with transportation and job coaching as needed for employment at the Little River Apparel factory in neighboring Eastport.

That cheerful news of three years ago was supplanted Friday by grim faces and tears in Eastport.

“We heard rumors all this week that there was going to be a shutdown,” said Kennard, who has worked for the company for more than two years and has two children. Although employees asked about the rumor earlier in the week, company officials denied the factory was closing, she said.

“Everyone is feeling really down and we just don’t know what to do. You have people out there crying, wondering what the hell they are going to do,” she said. “We just had another plant, Gates, close.”

Last year, Gates Formed-Fibre Products Inc. closed its doors, idling 50 workers.

Little River employee Susan Melanson said Friday that although job training was discussed, there are no jobs in Washington County. “They can give all the schooling in the world, but it’s not going to give us any jobs. A lot of us have families,” she said, wondering aloud who would provide for them now.

Siefken said the company would pay employees one week’s pay for every year worked.

Kennard said she is worried about the future. “Your bill collectors are still going to be calling you,” she said. “They are not going to be worried whether or not you have a job, they want their money. You can’t tell them, ‘I just lost my job.’ … They’d just as soon turn your power off tomorrow.”

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe said her office already was in touch with company officials and with the city of Eastport about the company’s decision to close. On Friday afternoon, after hearing reports about the announcement, Snowe’s office contacted Little River Apparel, which confirmed the decision to close its Eastport plant.

U.S. Rep. John Baldacci said late Friday that the closure will have an enormous impact on the community.

“The workers need to know that local, state and federal officials will do everything possible to make things easier during this time of transition,” he said in a prepared statement. “We are also moving quickly to determine if other federal and state agencies can provide assistance with training, health care or other needs. Additionally, we plan to be in touch with company and Defense Department officials to find out if increased governmental purchases could help to mitigate the situation in some way.”

Greg Biss, chairman of the Eastport City Council, said Friday, “This is totally unexpected and devastating news.” He said there were a lot of unanswered questions for which city officials would be seeking answers. City Manager George “Bud” Finch was on vacation Friday and unavailable for comment.

“On top of the Gates closure … this is about the last thing we need,” Biss said. “But we will pick up the pieces and if, in fact, they will not be coming back we will be actively looking for something else,” he said.

Snowe said her staff plans to attend a meeting with employees and the state Department of Labor rapid response team at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 23, in Eastport.

“I intend to do all that I can to assist these Little River Apparel workers and their families who face a wrenching transition in light of the company’s decision to cease operations in Eastport,” Snowe said. “Little River Apparel has been a source of good jobs in the Eastport area for some time, so this decision is especially disappointing.”