Story Published: Mar 19, 2009 at 4:28 PM PDT
JUNCTION CITY, Ore. -- RV manufacturer Country Coach will reopen as a smaller operation, according to company Vice President Matt Howard.
It's a major shock, but a welcome one, say former Country Coach employees called to return to work.
"I worked for Country Coach for 22 years and to be able to go back and possibly work another 10 to 17 years is just astronomical," said Vicky Moser. "I'm thrilled."
Moser was one of the 500 employees out of work when the company temporarily closed in November. The RV manufacturer planned to re-open in January, but on December 31 sent a letter to employees, informing them the company could not re-open as planned.
The letter said Country Coach needed to secure financing by the end of February, or would close permanently. The deadline passed while Country Coach said they were close to making a deal to resume production. Country Coach has also filed for bankruptcy, after Wells Fargo filed a motion forcing involuntary Chapter 11.
Moser said a supervisor called her Wednesday to ask if she was interested in returning. Her answer: an enthusiastic yes.
"I've been off for three months, there's not a lot of work out there, especially on the line," she said. "I work on the dash dept, I do a lot of assembly work and there's nothing out there. And it's something I really love to do."
The business plan has to be approved in bankruptcy court. Wells Fargo, the company's majority owner, also has to agree to the plan.The company has not officially rehired any employees, pending bankruptcy court approval of their new business plan. Howard expected the plan to be approved next week.
About 100 employees will be rehired over the next three to four weeks. That's only a small portion of those laid off earlier this year.
It fits Country Coach's new business model--only build coaches as they are ordered.
"No speculative building," said Howard. "Only coaches we have orders for, that customers say, I want that one. And we'll build it for them."
Howard declined to say how many coaches the company will build. He did say it will be a smaller production at the end of 2008, when the company made three to four coaches a week.
More specifics will be available next week, said Howard.
The news has spread quickly through Junction City.
"I think everyone one of these businesses in town have been impacted, critically impacted, a lot of places, a lot of places have shut down," said Kerri Stewart, who owns the Dutch Bros. coffee kiosk on Ivy Street. "So to hear that they're coming back, even if it's a fourth of what they were, we're pretty happy about it."
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