Newport
The company has been in Newport for several decades and last year put an addition on its 46,000-square-foot building to accommodate a large piece of equipment being moved from the company’s South Carolina plant, which shut down last year.
About a week ago, a “for sale” sign was placed in the front of the Newport property. According to the listing by the NAI Norwood Group of Bedford, N.H., the asking price for the building and 7 acres is $1.2 million.
Workers learned of the shutdown about four weeks ago. Calls to the company were referred to the Christine Mathers, the marketing and communications director of the corporate owner, AFGlobal Corp. in Houston. Several phone messages and an email for Mathers were not returned.
Selectboard Vice Chairman Todd Fratzel said he had heard the manufacturing in Newport was being transferred to Houston because the plant there has additional capacity. He also said he believes a few of the Newport employees have been offered transfers to Texas, but for those who remain, he is optimistic for their chances of finding another job in the same industry.
“I think they will all land jobs,” said Fratzel. “You drive from Newport to Claremont and you see machine shops looking for help.”
Mitch Latva, ower of Latva Machine in Newport, said on Thursday it was disappointing to see a company closing down that has been in Newport about 60 years.
“We’ve hired a few people who were working there,” said Latva.
AF Gloenco at one time employed more than 100 people and in 2005 invested in a nearly $1 million expansion. Two years later it was acquired by the Ameriforge Group, which became AFGlobal. According to an article in the Houston Business Journal, AFGlobal filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2017. Later that month, the company announced a capitalization restructuring that included an infusion of $120 million in capital from a new investor group.
Newport Town Manager Hunter Rieseberg said town officials were not informed directly by the company that it was leaving Newport.
“We became aware through other channels,” Rieseberg said. “It seems to me the decision was made at the corporate level based on the balance sheet numbers. That is our take.”
Fratzel, an engineer with United Construction and a lifelong Newport resident, said there is reason to believe the building won’t stay vacant for long.
“We get calls on a regular basis for shops that need three-phase power and open floor space,” Fratzel said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
