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Dan Kubera, spokesman for parent company Brunswick Corp., said the furlough will affect only the Knoxville Plant, which is in Forks of the River Industrial Park, and that production is to resume Oct. 5.
Sea Ray operates two manufacturing plants in the industrial park. One of them, the Riverview plant, was mothballed in January and 300 jobs halted. Sea Ray also has a plant in Vonore that is still operating.
"This action is part of Brunswick's continuing efforts to deal with a difficult and uncertain marine marketplace," Kubera said. "Along these lines, we always endeavor to make sure that whatever actions are announced and taken are as thoughtful, equitable and decisive as possible."
Kubera said salaried employees will remain on the job at the Knoxville plant to provide ongoing support for customers and Sea Ray's dealer base.
The announcement follows a string of layoffs for Sea Ray over the past year culminating with the January idling of the Riverview Plant. At that time, Sea Ray eliminated 575 jobs companywide, including 300 at the Riverview Plant and 275 across its other operations. Kubera then said that if weak demand continued, other measures could be necessary. In March, the company laid off 70 more workers at the Knoxville Plant.
Lake Forest, Ill.-based Brunswick Corp., which has its Brunswick Boat Group division headquartered in Knoxville, has seen its annual revenues increase substantially since entering the marine business years ago. But the marine division is vulnerable to economic downturns and has been hit hard by the recession.
Sea Ray in 1983 built its Tellico Plant, employing about 300 people, and moved its operations from Phoenix to Forks of the River Industrial Park.
In 1986, Brunswick Corp., which also produces fitness, bowling and billiards equipment, bought Sea Ray, and in 1987, Brunswick built the Riverview Plant that employs about 500 workers.
Sea Ray's work force in East Tennessee grew to about 2,000. In the first quarter of 1987, Brunswick posted the highest quarterly profits in the history of the then 142-year-old company, with $702 million in earnings -- a 46 percent increase from the previous year's first quarter.
As demand for boats weakened in the late 1980s, Sea Ray reduced its work force of 1,531 by about a third by 1990 and halted production at its Riverview and Vonore plants.
Boat demand grew significantly from 1993-1995, flattened 1996 through 2001, but improved by 2004 and prompted Brunswick to launch a $22 million expansion of its East Tennessee operations and add 200 jobs in Knox County and Vonore. In 2005, Brunswick was having another record year, with net earnings up 27 percent for the second quarter of that year and total earnings for the year up $114.1 million compared to $90.1 million in 2004.
By 2007, Brunswick Chairman Dustan E. McCoy said the company was planning for another economic downturn as sales were slipping, and the company posted a $53.2 million net loss for the fourth quarter of 2006.
Amid the national recession, Brunswick Corp. posted a loss of $72.3 million for the first quarter of 2009.
Business writer Ed Marcum may be reached at 865-342-6267.
To see more of The Knoxville News-Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.knoxnews.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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