Amweld closing plants in Niles, Garrettsville

One hundred jobs are being moved from a Niles door-making plant.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

Amweld Building Products is closing plants in Niles and Garrettsville and moving its production of metal doors and door frames to Mexico.

The company employs 100 in Niles and 170 in Garrettsville, although not all of the jobs are being lost.

Amweld is moving its headquarters from Garrettsville, which is in Portage County, to Stow, which is in Summit County. It is moving 45 salaried workers from its current headquarters to its new one.

Also, the Stow site will have a distribution center with some light manufacturing. The company is talking to the United Steelworkers of America, which represents hourly workers, about plans to staff the distribution center, said Joel Christman, chief financial officer for Ark II Manufacturing, Amweld’s parent company.

The move of the manufacturing plants to Monterrey, Mexico, is to be completed in coming months, he said.

He added that Amweld officials understand how difficult the move is on employees and is negotiating benefits with the union.

“We struggled to find a way to remain competitive while still maintaining jobs in the United States. While difficult, this relocation made the most sense for our business,” he said.

Company officials had talked to the landlord who owns both the Niles and Garrettsville plants but was unable to reach terms on a long-term lease, he said. The company wanted to put manufacturing plants at one location, he said.

Consolidating operations in Mexico will allow Aeld to operate more efficiently and allow it to invest in new production equipment, he said.

Christman said relocation of the plants will give Amweld better access to growth markets in southern and western states and Latin America and allow it to move its products more easily to its distribution centers, which are in Los Angeles; Chicago; San Antonio, Texas; and Orlando, Fla.

Amweld’s doors and frames are used in the commercial building industry, such as hotels, office buildings, schools, government buildings and hospitals.

The Niles plant produces doors, while the Garrettsville plant makes frames and ships all of the products.

The company opened its plant in Niles in 1946 and then added the Garrettsville plant nearly 20 years ago.

Ownership of the company has changed hands multiple times since 1946, Christman said. Ark II Manufacturing, which is based in Garrettsville, bought the company from WW Holdings two years ago. Ark II also owns Foremost Duct in Farmington, Mich., and Firedoor in Miami.

shilling@vindy.com