Business Leaders,

Two Mayors Rally

To Save A Major

Employer In Area

By DOUGLAS WATSON

Managing Editor

Randy Harrell, president of the Greene County Partnership, said Tuesday afternoon that he is appointing a "community action team" that will work to keep American Greetings Corporation's local plants operating here.

American Greetings, the Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of gift wrap and greeting cards, announced Monday that it may end its operations here.

The company said it will conduct a study to determine whether the manufacturing and distribution plants in Greeneville and those in Kalamazoo, Mich. can be consolidated, which could result in the closing of one of the plants.

The company's statement said, "The study is expected to be complete and a decision made in early fall 2008. A possible outcome of the study may be the closing of one of the two facilities."

Mike Goulder, American Greetings' senior vice president for operations, said, "In determining whether the operations for these product lines can be consolidated, the feasibility study will consider a variety of market, operational and cost factors.

"Our associates at both facilities are dedicated and capable. Many of them have been with us for several years. We are aware of the uncertainty this situation creates in each location. We intend to provide accurate and timely communications to our associates throughout the study."

Employment Levels

Currently, American Greetings' main plant and an auxiliary plant on Bohannon Avenue have approximately 700 employees. However, when the peak production season ends in November or December, American Greetings' local employment normally declines to about 300 personnel until the peak season resumes in the spring.

Greene County Mayor Alan Broyles and Greeneville Mayor Laraine King pledged to work hard to convince American Greetings' top executives to maintain the company's Greeneville operations.

'Action Team' Named

Harrell said Tuesday that he has asked Mayors Broyles and King and four of this community's leading business persons to serve with him on a "community action team"

The four businessmen are Scott Niswonger, who heads the Landair trucking company; Stan Puckett, president and CEO of GreenBank, Terry Leonard, who heads Leonard & Associates, and Jerry Fortner, president of C & C Millwright.

Previous Challenge

The four business leaders were involved in 2004 in working then to persuade American Greetings to maintain its operations and to close a plant in Franklin, Tenn, shifting its operations here.

Two previous elected officials, Greene County Mayor Roger Jones and Greeneville Mayor Darrell Bryan, joined them in working hard to successfully keep the Greeneville plant open then.

In April 2004, American Greetings had announced it was considering closing either its Plus Mark plant in Franklin, Tenn., or its plants here.

This community then weathered a half-year of anxious suspense as a major effort was mounted locally to persuade the corporation to expand the Greeneville operation rather than close it.

However, on Nov. 9, 2004, American Greetings announced that it would close its Franklin plant and move that facility's operations and some of its personnel to Greeneville.

Since then, American Greetings has invested more than $5 million in its Greeneville plant in Afton and substantially reorganized the layout of equipment.

Harrell said the best outcome for Greeneville, one the community action team team will be urging, would be to convince American Greetings to relocate its operations in Kalamazoo to Greeneville, which would increase local employment.