When Winnebago decided to cut 220 jobs at its Junction City, Ore., campus early this month, warehouse lead Scott Miller was initially disappointed about the move, but in the weeks following the announcement he has been impressed with how the company is handling the closure.
This story by Aliya Hall originally appeared in The Register-Guard.
“A lot of companies could have easily shut the doors and said, ‘thanks for trying, it’s not going to work and we’re done here,’” Miller said. “Winnebago did it in a way where people can land on their feet and find other jobs.”
The company announced Feb. 4 that it is relocating to another campus in Forest City, Iowa, after two years of producing large diesel-powered motor homes in Junction City. Winnebago will keep open its 30-employee RV service operation.
While the transition will begin immediately, production won’t end until August. At this point, the significance of the closure in Junction City is still being determined, because the city doesn’t know how many of the affected employees are from the area.
Miller, who worked for Monaco Coach and Country Coach, said the closure is being handled “a lot better than it was with Country Coach.”
Winnebago’s closure comes 11 years after RV manufacturer Country Coach’s, where 1,800 people lost their jobs. Winnebago bought the Country Coach manufacturing and service facilities in 2015 to capitalize on the experienced RV workforce in the Northwest.
Rick Kissock, Tri-County Chamber of Commerce executive director, said that until they know actual numbers of affected employees from the surrounding areas, it will be hard to judge the closure’s effect.
“We just don’t know,” he said. “It’s not a huge number. A lot of people are commuting up here. When looking at the whole thing, it’s really not going to have that huge, tremendous impact.”
Justin Knope, the city administrator for Junction City agrees, saying he isn’t expecting to see much of an impact on the city.