Cleveland
Mills closes
Workers learned of shutdown late Thursday; 200 affected
Cassie Tarpley
Star Staff Writer
LAWNDALE - Cleveland Mills, an institution in Cleveland County since
1888, shut down abruptly Thursday, leaving about 200 workers wondering
where they will get their next paycheck.
Managers from the company, which produced knit fabric for clothing,
could not be reached for comment, but one employee said workers had 10
minutes' notice of the closing.
It is possible that local managers had little more notice.
A press release faxed to The Star late Thursday indicated that the
Lawndale plant is only part of the picture.
"Operations will cease at Spartan International tomorrow, Friday, May
4," according to the release.
The mill is owned by Spartan Mills in Spartanburg, S.C., and is part of
Spartan International. The plant was renamed Cleveland CaroKnit a few
years ago.
The company's primary lender, General Electric Capital Corp., seized the
assets of Spartan International, which operates six plants in North and
South Carolina and Georgia, the press release stated.
Eddie Greene had worked at the mill for 22 years, he said.
"I worked in the finishing department," Greene said. "About 10 minutes
'til five, my supervisor, Ivan Lovelace, came by and said go to the
canteen. I didn't know why, but he turned the power off on the machine I
was running."
John Beaver, the department manager in finishing, "said he had some bad
news, that the plant was shutting down as of right now," Greene said.
"He said they would pay us until 5 o'clock and that's it."
Amy Jones, permanently hired at about 10 a.m. in the shipping and
receiving department, said that afternoon she was out of a job.
"I was working temporary for about six months," said Ms. Jones, who
received permanent status Thursday morning.
"At about 4:30 p.m. my boss came in to tell us they were closing the
plant down effective at 8 a.m. Friday. They (the mill) gave everyone a
letter. It was a real experience getting hired and fired all in one
day."
Greene said that rumors of a sale had floated around the plant.
"Well, everybody had heard they were in the process of selling it," he
said. "Walter Montgomery was the president and we heard he was wanting
out of it, and heard that if he couldn't sell he was going to close it."
Barry Leonard, president and chief executive officer of Spartan
International, cited "the current economic recession" and said the
business faced drastic reductions in orders.
Greene said the sudden loss of a job hits hard.
"I had been working over until 7 o'clock for the last 6 months," he
said. "The extra money meant a lot, I was kind of counting on it.
"I'm sure I won't get another job making as much unless I work
overtime," said Greene, whose regular pay rate was about $9 an hour.
"I noticed one woman was crying, her and her husband both work there,"
he said.
Workers turned out knitted cloth for clothing manufacturers, for knit
shirts, jogging outfits, fleece material and collars for shirts, Greene
said.
The mayor of Lawndale, Mike O'Brien, said Thursday evening, "We've not
been informed of anything. That's a terrible thing for the employees and
their families, and it's a bad thing for us from the standpoint of the
town.
"The rumors that we had heard was that it was for sale and if they
didn't sell by maybe July it would close down, but it was just a rumor -
I didn't hear that from anyone official."
O'Brien said he also heard that there was a potential buyer.
"They had downsized a while back, put in more machines," he said.
Last fall, The Star learned that about 30 employees were laid off.
At that time, Janet Thompson, employee relations manager in the South
Carolina office, said the layoffs were in response to "current business
conditions," and that employees had a six-month right of recall if jobs
reopened.
Founded in 1888, the mill was the third built by Major H.F. Schenck, a
retired Confederate officer. Schenck's enterprises spawned a legendary
railroad and several other mills in the county.
Newlin Schenck, a great-grandson, worked as purchasing agent for
Cleveland Mills until about 1992, and said he is shocked by the news.
"That's sort of unbelievable," said Schenck, who continued to work at
the mill for several years after the family sold it to Spartan in the
mid-1980s.
"That hurts a lot of fine people," he said. "I had heard nothing about
that. I know a lot of those fine people and that just breaks my heart.
"That's a wonderful bunch of folks there, and a lot of them are pretty
old-timers," he said, "plus you've got a sentimental value for the
company. I had worked in every department."
Adelaide Craver, chairman of the Cleveland County Chamber, said she had
heard nothing of plans for the closing.
"I'm very, very sorry," Mrs. Craver said. "We don't ever want to see an
old institution or any institution that employs people have to shut
down."
Mrs. Craver said she had heard that the parent company, Spartan Mills,
has been closing down other plants.
"We've had so much good news, like the Wal-Mart center and others, you
certainly hate to hear those stories that are going the other way," she
said.
County Commissioners Chairman Willie McIntosh said the shutdown will
have an immediate effect on community stores, service stations, "all
these things people use every day going to and from work."
"That's the only industry we have in the upper end," McIntosh said. "It
is definitely going to affect the upper end of Cleveland County, because
the majority of the employees are from that area."
The only possible bright spot is if the closing came primarily because
of out-of-country competition, he said.
"Hopefully it is not just a financial situation. If it has something to
do with the North American Free Trade Agreement or the Trade Adjustment
Agreement, then the company can file applications for NAFTA and TAA
benefits for these employees."
McIntosh said Economic Development Director Steve Nye will contact the
Employment Security Commission today to see if the company has notified
them. If not, ESC officials will contact mill managers, and local
leaders can write letters of support to go along with these
applications.
With those benefits, he said, "Employees can be trained through
Cleveland Community College to make them more marketable for other
jobs."
Next, he said, "We'll try to recruit companies to come in and use the
existing building."
Nye said late Thursday, "This is never good news, even if you've just
had five announcements of new companies.
"It's very unfortunate, especially falling on the heels of the Wal-Mart
announcement," he said. "We'll just have to work as hard as we can to
fill the building up or find another similar user there."
Star Staff Writer Heather Barr contributed to this story.
