‘We built that place from scratch … it was sad to tear it down’

When the closure of the Engineering Coated Products (ECP) production plant in Hawkesbury was announced last November, its 40 remaining employees had hardly seen it coming.

In fact, one employee said business had even picked up in the months leading up to the announcement, expressing disappointment in the eventual closure on Friday, February 5 because "customers were calling up until the end."

These days, Jeffrey Holtby, who worked several positions at the fabric production plant throughout a near 20-year career - and under multiple managements - is equally concerned with the future of the job market: for himself, his former coworkers, and the region as a whole.

"It's not a pretty picture," Holtby told The Review last month. "For a lot of people, there is no 'bright side.' These were family incomes."

He said some of the plant's former staff - which numbered up to 200 employees in recent years - has found work again, while others "just don't know."

For the meantime, the 53-year-old Hawkesbury resident is living on the severance package provided by the operating company, Intertape Polymer Group, while he searches for new employment. He said he has consulted the local Action Centre, run by the Employment Services Centre of Prescott-Russell, but has yet to find an option that provides an income in the same range as his former career.

"You don't know if you're going to get another job," Holtby said, referring to both his coworkers as well as employees of the numerous defunct production plants in the region. "There's a lot of uncertainty."

Closure 'quite a shock'

The ECP plant in Hawkesbury, formerly known as Fib-Pak, had made several layoffs in recent years. This was in addition to several countrywide plant closures at plants owned by Intertape, according to Holtby.

"They've been cutting back for a few years now, even management staff were trying to stay afloat," he said, adding, "The hammer finally came down in November."

Management had informed the employees last spring that if the company's orders were not completely sold, the plant would be forced to close. Following that, sales went "full tilt from the summer onwards [...] we were even turning down orders."

When the closure was announced in November, it was "quite a shock," recalled Holtby, noting new employees were being trained and others were working overtime.

He believes the decision to close, and relocate the operation to Mexico, was therefore one of bottom-line profits: "The way I see it - and a lot of people on the floor - was that if they shut us down, they can sell their Mexican product and the customers are stuck [buying under contract].

"It was a quality product, and customers wanted our product because of the quality of the fabric."

All told, last February 5 marked a sad day for the employees at ECP: "We built that place from scratch, and it was in good operation. It was sad to tear it down... walking around skeletons of machinery is not that fun when you've spent all that time building it up."

Little confidence in regional outlook

Though some of the former employees have taken on lower-paying jobs, Holtby nevertheless said it would be an adjustment for most of them. The staff at ECP was a "fairly mature workforce," with an average age in the late 40s and many with families and children.

"A lot of people in town had two incomes," he said. "Now, they are just looking at one."

Furthermore, he is not optimistic about the job creation statistics or unemployment figures in the local region, adding, "There's not a lot of concern from local politicians, either."

For the time being, and as the job hunt continues, Holtby will receive income from the severance package provided by Intertape, after which government employment insurance benefits come into effect.

His confidence in the regional outlook, however, remains shaken.

"Anyone I've talked to does not show a lot of confidence in the job market," he said. "Look at the papers. What do you see that is optimistic in the situation?

"If I were a young man, I would definitely not plan on staying in Hawkesbury, or the region. There's no future... why would you want to stay here?"