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Pella Will Close Iowa Plant
Just a year after transitioning the formerly wood producing Story City, Iowa, plant entirely to vinyl production (click here to read more), Pella Corp. has announced that it will close the facility in March, eliminating more than 240 positions. The manufacturer will use the 400,000-square-foot plant for storage.
The manufacturer points to the housing crisis for the closure. “After doing everything we could to deal with the housing decline, which is deeper and more widespread than anyone predicted, we must close this facility to reduce excess manufacturing capacity,” says Denny Van Zanten, Pella’s corporate vice president.
The Story City location, opened in 1997, is the smallest of the company’s sites in Iowa, according to company officials. Kathy Krafka Harkema, spokeswoman, told the local newspaper that the company has no plans to close its other Iowa plants in Sioux Center, Carroll, Pella and Shenandoah.
Nationwide, the company employs about 9,800 workers. “Our intention is to continue operating the existing facilities given the current demand,” Krafka Harkema told the newspaper. In some instances, however, workers’ hours have been cut to adjust for sluggish demand.
Pella was among Story City’s largest employers. “We love Story City and hate to close the facility,” said Harkema. “We’ll do what we can to help our team members.”
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