Ranger Boats sheds 130 on staff
Posted on Friday, November 14, 2008
Ranger Boats in Flippin laid off 130 employees and extended its normal two-week plant closing to four weeks in December because of a drop in orders from dealers, company officials said Thursday. The layoffs, which were effective Wednesday, represent about 17 percent of the fiberglass boat maker’s 750 employees, human resources director Cheryl Davenport said in an interview Thursday with KTLO Radio in Mountain Home.
Davenport told the radio station the layoffs were considered temporary because Ranger anticipated recalling the workers in January.
In a release, Ranger President Rander Hopper said layoffs are never easy, particularly before Christmas. He said Ranger officials “are committed to using every available resource we have to bring employees back to work as soon as possible.”
The company president said the decision was based on a general lack of consumer confidence and a difficult wholesale financing market that has hurt dealers’ ability to stock Ranger boats.
“Our retail sales have held up well under the circumstances when compared to the same period last year,” Hopper told the radio station. “We are encouraged that we are outperforming the market, but unfortunately it’s not enough to offset the continuing effects recent events have had on consumer confidence and dealer financing.”
Hopper didn’t return phone calls from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Thursday.
The plant is owned by Genmar Holdings Inc., a recreational boat manufacturer based in Minneapolis, Minn. Genmar President Roger Cloutier also didn’t return phone calls.
Ranger Boats, which has been operating on a four-day work week, will move to a three-day work week for most of November under a “shared work” program that allows employees to receive unemployment benefits for the missed days, Davenport told KTLO.
The plant also will close for four weeks in December rather than the usual two weeks. Employees should be eligible for unemployment benefits during the extended shutdown period, Davenport said.
She also confirmed details of a Nov. 7 company e-mail obtained by KTLO that notified employees of the schedule changes. The memo also informed employees that no Christmas bonuses would be given out.
“The worst part will be through December,” said Gerald Sanders, owner of Sanders and Son Grocery on Main Street in Flippin, population about 1, 400. “They’re going to mostly shutdown during that month.”
Forrest Wood and his wife, Nina Wood, founded Wood Manufacturing Co. in Flippin in 1968 to build Ranger Boats.
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