Published: November 18, 2008 10:22 am         

Starcraft cuts 244 jobs

TOPEKA, Ind. — After Dallas Martin caught wind of the nasty rumor floating around town Monday morning, he had to go find out for himself.

So, the Topeka Town Council vice president went over to the Starcraft plant on the south edge of town to get the news first hand.

The rumor was true.

Jayco Corp. based in Middlebury will close its Starcraft trailer plant in Topeka in early January eliminating 244 jobs.

Martin was told the closing will be by mid-January.

“This fuel thing has been the ruination of the whole industry,” Martin said at the town hall Monday.

He blames speculators on Wall Street for causing $4-per-gallon fuel prices last summer.

“But,” Martin added, still clinging to optimism, “80 percent of the people feel that by mid-2009 things will be a lot better.”

Derald Bontrager, Jayco’s president and chief operating officer explained that the woes of RV business extend well beyond high gas prices.

“The RV industry has been hit hard, first by runaway fuel prices and, more recently, by severely diminished consumer confidence and significant decline in the supply of credit at both retail and wholesale levels,” Bontrager said. “Business conditions dictate that we take steps to reduce operating costs and maintain production capacity that reflects marketplace realities.”

The Starcraft plant builds folding camping trailers, truck campers, travel trailers and fifth-wheel travel trailers.

That production will be shifted to Jayco’s Middlebury plants. The Starcraft brand will continue to operate separately and have its own sales staff and product development staff, according to Bontrager.

Sid Johnson, director of marketing for Jayco, said the company will make an effort to move some of the Topeka workers to the Middlebury plant.

“But,” he said, “it will be very few people.”

That’s because the downturn has left the Middlebury workers with enough man hours to absorb the Topeka work, Johnson said.

“There is no doubt that the RV industry is undergoing fundamental, long-term change and it is critical that Jayco position itself to be able to adapt to these new market circumstances,” Bontrager said. “We are confident that the industry will rebound and Jayco will have the necessary capacity to continue to enjoy healthy market share increases.”

The plant closing is the second this fall of the small town in LaGrange County. Champion Homes, which builds modular homes, announced in October it would close a plant in Topeka. That closure eliminated 120 jobs.

Other RV factories in the town are operating with reduced work weeks.

“This decision has been taken with deep regret,” Bontrager said. “We know that it will place hardship on many of our employees and their families.”