Chamber chief: Not all gloom for 577 losing jobs at Falcon
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
Falcon Transport Co. went the way of the Campbell Works of Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co.
The trucking company closed up shop and left town in the dark of night without warning its employees or the community.
On Sept. 19, 1977, a day known locally as “Black Monday,” Sheet and Tube closed the Campbell Works doors and 5,000 people came to work and were told they no longer had jobs, just like that.
On Saturday, an estimated 577 Falcon employees – 89 office employees, 81 owner-operators and 407 regular drivers – some of them on the road making deliveries, got the same message.
Many believe Falcon is the latest victim of the March idling of the General Motors Lordstown Assembly Complex.
Falcon, based on Belmont Avenue in Liberty Township, billed itself as a major service provider for the Big Three U.S. automakers.
But on Saturday night, Falcon’s employees received this text message from a company official:
“We regret to inform you that Falcon Transport is not able to continue operations and will be shutting down effective today. Please stop any work you are doing for the company effective immediately. You are not expected to return to work. Please be on the lookout for further information we will be sending regarding this situation.”
SOME POSITIVE NEWS
Despite Sunday’s surprising announcement, James Dignan, president and chief executive officer of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, said there is some positive news, at least for the now-unemployed Falcon drivers.
“There are a lot of area companies looking for drivers, and the chamber will try to bring them together,” Dignan said.
“Right now we don’t have much information about Falcon’s situation, but we have reached out to Falcon and hope to touch base and see if there is anything we can do to assist,” Dignan said.
Falcon’s message was shared on Facebook after 8 p.m. Saturday and generated thousands of comments and shares. It also generated many job offers and rides home for drivers scattered and stranded across the U.S.
Neither Falcon Transport nor its officials could be reached Saturday night by phone. The Belmont location was locked up tight.
However, the bad news was confirmed Sunday morning when the company placed on Facebook, as a response to an interview request, this curt text: “Falcon Transport is no longer in business.”
Trucking-industry website FreightWaves reported the closing late Saturday based on social postings.
On social media Saturday, one worker lamented: “What a nice way to lay off all your employees across the country.”
A driver then posted: “As a now former driver for Falcon. It’s not a joke. We lost our jobs today.”
Another person added: “Right, no jokes. Doors closed.”
MSR Transport Services, an Ohio-based, veteran-owned company posted: “Another familiar sight in Northeast Ohio is closing their doors effective 2000 hours tonight. Falcon Transport was founded in 1903 with a single horse and wagon and was passed through four generations of family.”
One observer added: “Falcon Transport, who had GM in Lordstown as a big customer, is now out of business due to Lordstown closing.”
800 JOBS LOST in 2 years
In 2017, 800 people were employed by Falcon Transport Co. That’s when Los Angeles-based private equity firm, CounterPoint Capital Partners, LLC, announced it had acquired the transportation logistics provider.
The Lordstown GM plant made the Chevrolet Cruze, and in March furloughed the last of its three shifts. The plant’s final day of operation resulted in the loss of about 1,600 jobs.
An estimated 6,000 jobs have been lost, including those at GM Lordstown, as a result of the idling of the huge complex so far.
Falcon provided flatbed and over-the-road services to customers including GM, Ford, Nexteer, Arcelor Mittal and U.S. Steel, according to the company’s website.
According to a media release, CounterPoint Capital Partners focused on acquiring lower-middle market companies headquartered throughout the United States and Canada with $10 million to $200 million in annual revenues.
The private equity firm specialized in turnaround, mature and lower middle- market investments in companies facing operational and financial transition.
OFFICIALS REACT
Several local officials reacted to yet another business closing in the Mahoning Valley.
“The closing of Falcon Transport is sad news for the Valley and Northeast Ohio. As we learn more, we know that workers deserve better than an email letting them know that they’re out of a job. My office stands ready to provide any assistance we can to support these workers and their families,” said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, of Cleveland.
“This is another example of how our system is rigged. It’s infuriating that this economy continues to gut working-class wallets while management attempts to cut their way to prosperity,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-13th ,of Howland.
“It’s shortsighted, it’s shameful, and it’s wrong,” said Ryan, also a Democratic presidential candidate.
“The private-equity firm that owns Falcon Trucking has left its drivers stranded all over the country, without explaining when or whether they will get their paychecks. These employees put in years of hard work and deserve to be treated like the hardworking Americans they are,” said Ryan.
Ryan also said he will reach out to the U.S. Department of Labor as well as state and local agencies to see what kind of assistance can be offered to the laid-off workers.
STOYAK: ‘DOMINO EFFECT’
“It’s another piece of bad news for the Mahoning Valley, and another very sad domino effect of the closing of GM Lordstown” said Jodi Stoyak, a trustee in Liberty Township where Falcon Transport Co.’s headquarters was built about six years ago.
“I didn’t know a thing about Falcon closing until I received calls from the media,” she said.
She added she has noticed a greater need for more food pantries.
“More and more people need free food. It’s awful. People keep saying how great the economy is, but the average Joe is hurting,” said Stoyak.
“I know people are trying to get GM to put another product in Lordstown, and I don’t know that we need to give up on that. But, I’d like to see us reinvent what we have here. Pittsburgh has reinvented itself, and I think it’s something that legislators and the powers-that-be need to look at doing here,” Stoyak said.