MicroKap
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Boat company to consolidate 3 brands in 1 NC plant
Owner of 3 boat brands to consolidate production in NC, moving production from 2 Fla. sites
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A boat builder is consolidating three brands of fishing and speed boats at a North Carolina plant as the recession-ravaged industry slims down production.
The owner of Donzi Marine and Pro-Line Boats said Monday it will move production of those brands into the site in the Beaufort County city of Washington, where Fountain Powerboats have been manufactured.
Boca Raton, Fla.-based Liberty Associates LC owns all three brands after acquiring the assets of Fountain Powerboat Industries during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization earlier this year.
The decision could result in about 410 jobs over five years at the Fountain plant on the Pamlico River, Gov. Beverly Perdue's office said. The company will get more than $300,000 from state and local taxpayers.
Virtually all the production workers will be hired locally, Liberty Associates CEO Bill Gates said. A handful of managers are transferring from the Pro-Line factory in Crystal River, Fla., and the Donzi Marine plant in Sarasota, Fla., which were closed within the past month, he said.
Donzi craft will begin to be produced at the Beaufort County plant beginning this week, Gates said.
Hundreds of former Fountain workers are looking for work. The company now employs 75 full-time employees, down from a peak of more than 450.
Fountain Powerboats filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2009. It had announced plans in mid-2008 to add 250 jobs over five years with the help of a state grant of as much as $12 million.
Beyond the incentives and the available work force, the Fountain Powerboat plant was twice the size of either Florida facility, Gates said. It also is on the water and had seen upgrades of up to $50 million in recent years, he said. Privately owned Liberty Associates bought Fountain's assets for an initial $10.5 million investment, Gates said.
The consolidation is the second in four months for a well-known boat builder picking North Carolina.
Lake Forest, Ill.-based Brunswick Corp. said in July it will close its Cabo Yachts plant in Adelanto, Calif., by the end of 2010 and move production to its Hatteras Yachts factory in New Bern. The move was forecast to expand the work force of 280 by about 350 jobs within five years. Several rounds of layoffs had slashed the work force at Hatteras Yachts from 1,400.
Owner of 3 boat brands to consolidate production in NC, moving production from 2 Fla. sites
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A boat builder is consolidating three brands of fishing and speed boats at a North Carolina plant as the recession-ravaged industry slims down production.
The owner of Donzi Marine and Pro-Line Boats said Monday it will move production of those brands into the site in the Beaufort County city of Washington, where Fountain Powerboats have been manufactured.
Boca Raton, Fla.-based Liberty Associates LC owns all three brands after acquiring the assets of Fountain Powerboat Industries during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization earlier this year.
The decision could result in about 410 jobs over five years at the Fountain plant on the Pamlico River, Gov. Beverly Perdue's office said. The company will get more than $300,000 from state and local taxpayers.
Virtually all the production workers will be hired locally, Liberty Associates CEO Bill Gates said. A handful of managers are transferring from the Pro-Line factory in Crystal River, Fla., and the Donzi Marine plant in Sarasota, Fla., which were closed within the past month, he said.
Donzi craft will begin to be produced at the Beaufort County plant beginning this week, Gates said.
Hundreds of former Fountain workers are looking for work. The company now employs 75 full-time employees, down from a peak of more than 450.
Fountain Powerboats filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2009. It had announced plans in mid-2008 to add 250 jobs over five years with the help of a state grant of as much as $12 million.
Beyond the incentives and the available work force, the Fountain Powerboat plant was twice the size of either Florida facility, Gates said. It also is on the water and had seen upgrades of up to $50 million in recent years, he said. Privately owned Liberty Associates bought Fountain's assets for an initial $10.5 million investment, Gates said.
The consolidation is the second in four months for a well-known boat builder picking North Carolina.
Lake Forest, Ill.-based Brunswick Corp. said in July it will close its Cabo Yachts plant in Adelanto, Calif., by the end of 2010 and move production to its Hatteras Yachts factory in New Bern. The move was forecast to expand the work force of 280 by about 350 jobs within five years. Several rounds of layoffs had slashed the work force at Hatteras Yachts from 1,400.
