Foundation makes last effort to save Hathaway factory

WATERVILLE – A nonprofit foundation says it is trying to raise $1 million by Friday in an attempt to avert the permanent shutdown of the 165-year-old C.F. Hathaway Co.

Joel Joseph, who heads the Made in the USA Foundation, planned to meet Wednesday with political and business leaders to make a final plea for help in buying the shirt factory.

Joseph announced the last-ditch effort Tuesday as more Hathaway employees were laid off. Most of the more than 200 workers at the Water Street factory already are gone.

“No, it’s not too late,” Joseph insisted. “As long as the equipment is still there, and it is.”

Joseph said another $1 million from private investors would give the foundation-backed effort enough money to buy and operate the company. He said he is not worried about what would happen after the initial money runs out.

“We think it will be self-sufficient after that,” Joseph said, “We think it will be profitable.”

Neither the foundation nor Hathaway’s owner, Windsong Allegiance Apparel Group of Westport, Conn., have released the purchase price for the company.

Hathaway officials have struggled to keep the company afloat amid a flood of cheaper imports. The company’s last hope vanished a month ago when it lost a lucrative Air Force contract that would have allowed production to continue.

Hathaway Chief Executive Officer Donald J. Sappington said only a few managers and distribution workers will remain on the job after Friday.

“There will be a handful of us here for awhile because there’s still inventory that needs to be shipped, probably through the end of November,” Sappington said.

With the work force mostly gone, Sappington said any eleventh-hour bailout financed by the foundation would have to start from the ground up.

“Well, it’s too late to stop the closing, but it’s not too late if somebody wanted to take the equipment and building and restart – you can always do that,” Sappington said.

The Made in the USA Foundation is a national organization whose goals include promoting American-made products and preserving the nation’s manufacturing jobs.