Little Falls aluminum boat plant to close

LITTLE FALLS, Minn. -- Brunswick Corporation today announced that it will cease production and close down it's aluminum boat facility in Little Falls by this fall. The move will result in the loss of 180 local jobs.

A company spokesman says that over the next several months, Brunswick will transfer production of its Crestliner and Triton aluminum boats and Triton pontoons to three other manufacturing plants in New York Mills, Minn., Lebanon, Mo., and Fort Wayne, Ind.

Spokesman Dan Kubera says Brunswick hopes to transfer 90 of the 180 jobs to either New York Mills or Lebanon, Mo. The reminder will be eliminated.

Production at the Little Falls facility will begin to ramp down in May, and the doors to the facility are expected to close in the fall.

"While consistent with our manufacturing strategy, such decisions are always difficult," said Brunswick CEO Dustan McCoy. "This decision does not reflect upon the Little Falls workforce or product, but it is the result of our overarching need to develop a more efficient manufacturing footprint that is appropriate to the marine marketplace, which has been under pressure for several years."

Little Falls Mayor Cathy VanRiffeghem says the community's heritage is boatmaking, which began in the city 90 years ago and became its biggest industry.

"There's always hope.  Hope and a lot of prayer is what folks around here rely on.  We've got some tough people in this are and they've gone through some tough times before; they're going to come through this," the Mayor said.

There is hope at the boat-producing plant across the river from Brunswick.  VanRiffeghem says the Larson plant once housed 800 workers but has been reduced to a skeleton crew in recent years.  The hope comes in the form of it's recent acquisition and promise of a rebirth.

"It's in the works right now and it's starting up again," the Mayor said.

John Monahan, who restores, rebuilds, and catalogs the rich boat-making history of Little Falls, say the industry is cyclical and always has been.  His friends and former co-workers are among those losing their jobs.

"Generation after generation worked at Larson boats or Crestliner.  We'll bounce back.  It may take a little time, but we'll bounce back," the owner of The Boat Works, Inc. promised.

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