Hope and Change, Shawano Wis.

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Leader photo Employees work on wood strips at Owens Flooring in this 2006 file photo. The 125,000-square-footplant opened in 2005 in Shawano. Owens employees were informed of the firm’s closure at a company-wide meeting Thursday afternoon.

From the Shawano Leader.

"Owens suddenly closes plants
By Kent Tempus, Leader editor

Owens, Inc., one of Shawano’s leading private employers, Thursday announced the immediate closure of its two plants in the city displacing an estimated 150 employees, a move which was confirmed Thursday evening by an attorney representing the firm.

While it is possible the two Owens Shawano manufacturing facilities may reopen, the plants will be sold at an auction early next year, explained Tim Nixon of Godfrey & Kahn in Green Bay, the legal adviser to Owens.

Owens — which received a loan package totaling $1.5 million in February that averted substantial layoffs at the time — again found itself caught in a credit crunch and was forced to discontinue its operations.

“The company’s “lender refused to advance additional funds the company needed to operate,” Nixon said. “The company had to shut down today for the obvious reason that you can’t pay them (employees).”

The company will seek approval in Shawano County Circuit Court today to be placed in receivership, Nixon said.

In a receivership, the assets of a company are placed under the control of a receiver who administers the assets for the court. The receiver manages the assets with the intent of preserving their value so they can ultimately be sold for the benefit of the debtor’s creditors.

“The company believes this is the best way to keep the business open and running in Shawano,” Nixon said. “It’s what (company president and CEO) Mr. Owens wants, and it’s the best way to find a new owner, and that’s why the company took this action.”

Demand for doors and flooring manufactured by Owens plummeted during the current recession because of the significant decline in new home construction. Along with increased foreign competition in the door and flooring markets, the sales decline of the past two years proved to be too much for Owens to withstand. When the company received the loan package earlier this year, Owens employed about 200 workers. In August, the firm furloughed 40 workers because of declining sales.

Michael Polsky of Milwaukee will be appointed the receiver for Owens. Polsky has served in that capacity for other many companies in the region and the state."

Job, jobs, jobs. Looks like Hope and Change and the stimulus is working? Let's all thank Steve Kagen for all the hard work he is doing for us in Washington.