FYI:

Issue Date: 1/21/2008, Posted On: 1/21/2008

Hatteras Yachts closes one plant; 200 jobs lost
Hatteras Yachts plans to shift production from its Swansboro, N.C., plant to its larger one in New Bern, N.C., in the next several months.

Parent company Brunswick Corp. said it wants to take advantage of productivity gains in New Bern. Though Hatteras is forecasting a double-digit growth in sales for 2008 versus 2007, the yacht maker says it is confident that improvements in its manufacturing process at New Bern will satisfy production commitments.

Brunswick said the Swansboro plant will be available to manufacture other Brunswick boat brands once Hatteras moves out in June. The company did not provide any details, however.

Shifting Hatteras production to New Bern will mean the elimination of 200 jobs at Swansboro, the company reported. Those employees with necessary skill sets may be given an opportunity to transfer to New Bern or another Brunswick plant in Navassa, N.C., though the potential impact on those plants is not known at this time.

Employees at the Swansboro plant were surprised at the impending shutdown when it was announced last week, according to a report in the Jacksonville [N.C.] Daily News.

"Everybody was shocked," Toshia Rister, who builds cabinets at the plant, told the newspaper.

Rister, who has worked there for just over a year, said she was told her last day will be March 28

"A couple of people are looking for jobs," said Rister, noting some of her coworkers left early to start their job hunt not long after the announcement was made to workers, the newspaper reports.

Jim Reichardt, Onslow County Economic Development executive director, also said he was shocked Hatteras Yachts is moving its production out of the area, according to the Daily News.

"I hope that since they plan on keeping the facility open that they utilize the employees," he was quoted as saying. "That may be the only silver lining to the cloud."

Hatteras began building yachts in Swansboro in September 2005 when the Brunswick Boat Group bought the plant from Michigan-based Tiara Yachts