Monday, March 02, 2009
MONACO LEFT WITH 140 EMPLOYEES AT THE MOMENT
from www.oregonlive.com:
Monaco Coach Corp., the 41-year-old recreational vehicle and trailer manufacturer based in Coburg, started handing out pink slips Monday to 2,000 workers -- a majority furloughed since mid-December -- and warned the company could close entirely.
With its motto "Driving your dream" still posted atop its flashy Web site, Monaco alerted the state in a required filing Monday that if it doesn't secure new ownership or financing over the next 14 days, layoffs at plants in Coburg, Harrisburg and Hines could be followed by more job cuts.
Craig Wanichek, director of investor relations, said Monday's action affects jobs in Oregon and Indiana and leaves the company with 140 employees.
He would not say at which point the company would decide to permanently close.
"We have been working to find a solution," he said, "and we will continue to work on that."
In Monday's filing to the state Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, Monaco said, "Unforeseen business circumstances precluded our ability to give 60 days' notice of the forgoing circumstances."
In letters to furloughed employees, the company said it didn't alert them to the situation earlier for fear that would have "undermined its efforts to sell or otherwise attract financing to preserve the business."
Monaco is one of three Oregon luxury motor coach companies -- along with Country Coach of Junction City and Marathon Coach of Coburg -- that at one point, represented salvation for some of Lane County's struggling timber towns. At its peak in 2005, the state's RV industry, which produces some rigs with $1 million price tags, employed close to 5,000 workers.
Yet high gas prices and the tightening credit market have put the brakes on the manufacturing industry that had begun to slow in 2007.
Wells Fargo & Co. recently filed a lawsuit against Country Coach, seeking to collect payment on an $8 million loan. On Feb. 10, Bryant Riley, a Los Angeles-based investment banker representing a group of investors, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an attempt to fend off Wells Fargo's move.
As with Monaco, Country Coach idled its factory in December, along with 500 workers.
With its stock below $1 for more than 30 days, the New York Stock Exchange notified Monaco in mid-January that it risked delisting. The company's shares, still trading on NYSE, closed down 40 cents, to 6 cents, Monday after the company announced layoffs.
In late October, Monaco reported third-quarter sales of $166.3 million, compared with $322.4 million during the same period a year earlier. For the quarter ended Sept. 27, the company reported an operating loss of $90.6 million, which included restructuring and impairment charges of $68.5 million, versus operating income of $6.5 million in the third quarter of 2007.
Monaco Coach Corp., the 41-year-old recreational vehicle and trailer manufacturer based in Coburg, started handing out pink slips Monday to 2,000 workers -- a majority furloughed since mid-December -- and warned the company could close entirely.
With its motto "Driving your dream" still posted atop its flashy Web site, Monaco alerted the state in a required filing Monday that if it doesn't secure new ownership or financing over the next 14 days, layoffs at plants in Coburg, Harrisburg and Hines could be followed by more job cuts.
Craig Wanichek, director of investor relations, said Monday's action affects jobs in Oregon and Indiana and leaves the company with 140 employees.
He would not say at which point the company would decide to permanently close.
"We have been working to find a solution," he said, "and we will continue to work on that."
In Monday's filing to the state Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development, Monaco said, "Unforeseen business circumstances precluded our ability to give 60 days' notice of the forgoing circumstances."
In letters to furloughed employees, the company said it didn't alert them to the situation earlier for fear that would have "undermined its efforts to sell or otherwise attract financing to preserve the business."
Monaco is one of three Oregon luxury motor coach companies -- along with Country Coach of Junction City and Marathon Coach of Coburg -- that at one point, represented salvation for some of Lane County's struggling timber towns. At its peak in 2005, the state's RV industry, which produces some rigs with $1 million price tags, employed close to 5,000 workers.
Yet high gas prices and the tightening credit market have put the brakes on the manufacturing industry that had begun to slow in 2007.
Wells Fargo & Co. recently filed a lawsuit against Country Coach, seeking to collect payment on an $8 million loan. On Feb. 10, Bryant Riley, a Los Angeles-based investment banker representing a group of investors, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an attempt to fend off Wells Fargo's move.
As with Monaco, Country Coach idled its factory in December, along with 500 workers.
With its stock below $1 for more than 30 days, the New York Stock Exchange notified Monaco in mid-January that it risked delisting. The company's shares, still trading on NYSE, closed down 40 cents, to 6 cents, Monday after the company announced layoffs.
In late October, Monaco reported third-quarter sales of $166.3 million, compared with $322.4 million during the same period a year earlier. For the quarter ended Sept. 27, the company reported an operating loss of $90.6 million, which included restructuring and impairment charges of $68.5 million, versus operating income of $6.5 million in the third quarter of 2007.
