Local firms reclaiming some jobs

Spancrete, others call back handful of workers

By: Todd S. Bermann, Valders Journal

One year after it announced the layoff of 126 employees in its Valders plant Spancrete recalled 12 workers this week, Gary Noel, manager of employee relations in the company’s Waukesha headquarters, said on Monday.

“Since March, that was our bottom, things have improved,” Noel said. “Business is upduring the last few months.”

Spancrete has returned others to work since March, noted both Noela dn Valders plan manager John Schnell. However, they did not haveexact numbers show how manoy of the 126 have been recalled.

The recall of good laid-off workers is a sign of possible economic recovery, said Kenneth Stubbe of the Economic Development Corporation of Manitowoc County.

“That’s fantastic news,” he said. “It’s great news for Manitowoc County and Valders.”

Spancrete employees not only live in Valders, but throughout Manitowoc County, Stubbe noted.

Because Spancrete supplies products to the construction and transportation industry, the recall is a sign of economic recovery, he said.

While expecting business to remain steady for the rest of 2009, Noel said 2010 is still a question mark.

“The focus of our business is construction,” Noel said. “That is up slightly. After January we don’t know what that would bring.”

Schnell said business would be better at Spancrete in 2010 had Chicago recived the bid to be host of the 2016 Olympics.

But about 2010 he said, “I am cautiously optimistic.”

The dozen people who headed back work at Spancrete are among the 4,549 people in Manitowoc County whom the state Department of Workforce Development listed as unemployed in August.

At that time, Manitowoc County had a 9.6 percent unemployment rate, compared to 4.4 percent in August of 2008.

Unemployment peaked at 10.9 percent in march, April and May and has since declined slightly.

“It’s down somewhat,” Stubbe said. “It’s not down much.”

The unemployment statistics, unlike what is actually happening at Spancrete give little indication of recovery, he said.

“There are some companies that are doing okay,” Stubbe said.

In particular, these include the food and beverage industries, he said.

Stecker Machine Co. in Newton had a similar pattern to Spancrete, said Jerry Stecker, company president. The company laid off 35 workers in January and has since hired back about half, he said.

“The rest of this year, it doesn’t look promising,” he cautioned.

However, Stecker said his company will have a major project in June 2010.

Another Newton company, Stock Manufacturing has about the same workforce of 50 employees it had in March, the firm’s Jennifer Stock said.

Busienss at Vladers Stone and Marble has been steady, general manager Pete Roehrigh said.

“It’s steady as she goes,” he said. “We have been blessed with work.”

As in past years, Valders Stone and Markbel will discontinue quarrying operations for the winter starting around Thanksgiving, Roehrig said.

The company is currently quarrying stone that it will keep for the winter and cut to order as requested, he said.

Roehrig said he is unsure what 2010 will bring.

“It’s hard to say, depending on what prognostication you look at,” he said. “There are not any clear indications it will be good. There are not any clear indications it will be bad.”

As Valders Stone and Marble has a seasonal factor in its operatiosn, so does Miller-St.Nazianz.

The 110-year-old farm products manufacturer gets most of its business in winter, said company president John W. Miller. Because farmers are busy in their fields in summer, they buy equipment in winter, he explained.

Outside this trend, business has slowed because of the recession and then picked up with international sales.

“While our U.S. market is a little stagnant, our export market is nice,” he said. “We’re exporting more in 2009.”

Miller said with a record 2008, not beating 2009 figures would not be bad news.

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