19th November 2009 - Carlisle Industrial & Friction to Close Logansport Facility

The Pharos-Tribune, the local newspaper in Logansport Indiana, has reported Carlisle Industrial Brake & Friction will close its Logansport facility, putting about 118 employees out of a job.  Facility will close by March 2010.

The company, headquartered in Bloomington, blamed the economy for the decision to close the plant at 1441 Holland St.

“Adverse economic conditions in 2009 have resulted in a significant decline in the demand for products manufactured by our Logansport facility and led to this difficult decision,” Chris Koch, president of Carlisle Brake & Friction, said in a news release. “After an extensive review, we have determined to cease the manufacture of a number of existing products and move production of the remaining products to other Carlisle Brake & Friction locations.”

The company said the transition would begin immediately, with a majority of production operations stopping by the end of December. To meet particular customer commitments, the company said, some operations might continue until the end of March.

“Obviously, there is a large payroll affected,” he said. “They are good paying jobs that will have to be replaced. There’s also a building and each worker’s family and insurance.”

The company said the decision was a difficult one that affected not only employees, but their families and the entire community.

“We intend to help our employees transition to other opportunities by offering various transition services,” Koch said. “Salaried employees will be offered severance packages and outplacement assistance. The company will work closely with union officials to determine severance packages for hourly workers.”

Carlisle Industrial Brake and Friction also has locations in Pontypool, Wales; Hangzhou, China; and Bloomington, all of which will continue production.

Carlisle Companies, the parent company of Carlisle Industrial Brake and Friction, closed the Carlisle Motion Control division earlier in 2009.  Carlisle Motion Control produced heavy duty brake blocks and disc pads primarily for over-the-road trucks.  Motion Control had facilities in Charlottesville and South Hill Virginia.  Carlisle Motion Control also had production facilities in Fredericksburg, Virginia and Ridgway, Pennsylvania which had closed in previous years.