WARSAW, Ind. (WNDU) – A factory that has operated for more than a century will close its doors March 1, leaving about 260 employees without jobs.
Dalton Corporation, which makes car parts, will shut down its Warsaw facility permanently. The closure affects workers who have been with the company for decades, including some who have worked there more than 40 years.
Many employees learned about the closure through a leaked letter sent from the corporate company, First Brands Group, to the union president. Some workers had been out of work since October and expected to return in January.
“We’ve been out of work since October and here we were expecting to come back the first of the year and just start booming. And here we are,” said Melissa Staton, a former Dalton Corporation employee.
Angie Haywood worked at Dalton Corporation for 45 years, starting when she was 22 years old. She retired at 40 but returned to work.
“I’d go back now if there was something they could possibly have me to do,” Haywood said.
Rick Richardson, who worked in several departments at Dalton for more than 40 years, said conditions deteriorated after multiple ownership changes.
“It got to where they just didn’t care because the new owners, they didn’t care. They didn’t want to put nothing in it. They started short in the hours. The suppliers for like the coke or the sand, the scrap metal. They wasn’t getting it in on time,” Richardson said.
Rob Parker, Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce president, said he saw the closure coming.
“It’s hard work here and those jobs are just not as plentiful as they once were. And we live in a rust belt, you know, here along, you know, this section of the world. And those jobs are changing. And so, this is a relic of that era. And it’s sad to see it go, to be honest,” Parker said.
Parker said other local companies are already trying to interview some of Dalton’s employees and that there are more jobs in the county.
First Brands Group filed for bankruptcy in September, which may have contributed to the Warsaw facility’s closure.
Richardson described the workplace as a close-knit community.
“We basically are brothers and sisters. I mean, we valued our work. We’ve done the best we could,” Richardson said.
Haywood said the workers were dedicated to their jobs.
“There’s the hardest working people that you’d ever meet in your life. And one of the best products in the world,” Haywood said.
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