Closure expected by end of June
Employees of Second Chance Armor in Central Lake learned Wednesday the company will be shutting its doors by the end of June.
CENTRAL LAKE -- More layoffs have been announced for an Antrim county manufacturer; however these cuts come with a complete plant closure.
Employees at Second Chance Armor in Central Lake were told Wednesday that come this summer the plant would be closing.
Second Chance is a division of Safariland, owned by BAE Systems.
"We will be consolidating our ballistic panel production operations within the Jacksonville, Florida manufacturing facility as part of our overall efforts which are designed to optimize our business and production capacity in order to increase cost effectives and deliver enhanced value for our customers," said Michael Munz, spokesman for Safariland.
88 employees, both hourly and salaried, will be impacted by what the company is calling a phased closure.
The company produces a variety of law enforcement protective gear. The company also operates Savvy in Central Lake, a division that produces body armor for women. All of Safariland's Central Lake operations are expected to be closed by the end of June.
Munz says they are currently working with employees on severance packages and are offering relocation opportunities to Florida.
Wednesday's announcement came as a bit of a surprise to some area businesses.
"I think it devastates everybody right now," said Nicole Wilson, manager of the "Classic Pizza" restaurant. "It's going to devastate the town, the people that work there, the people that have family there.
Wilson, who has relatives that work at Second Chance, say they are often kept busy at lunch, especially because of Second Chance employees. Now, with the closures in such a small town, she says it's certainly going to have a big impact.
"It's scary," Wilson said. "It's part of our town."
In early October of last year nine customer service employees were laid off from Second Chance as the company's restructuring plan to consolidate their customer service centers to Ontario, California and Jacksonville, Florida. In late October the company reduced its out-sourced work which left more than 50 people, who worked at home sewing together vest pieces, without a job.
