American WeatherSeal has been a part of Orrville, Ohio since 1934. For the past 65 years WeatherSeal has specialized in vinyl windows for replacement and new construction. Less than two years ago, American WeatherSeal opened up a new 185,000 square foot, $9 million manufacturing plant. Capable of producing as many as 1,000 custom windows a day, the plant was a marker of the manufacturing success of Orrville.
Several days ago American WeatherSeal closed its doors for good, leaving 100 full time workers unemployed in a struggling economy.
While 100 employees may not seem like a lot to some, the City of Orrville has a population of 8,551 residents, which means the closing of any manufacturing plant sends huge shockwaves through the community. Many of the workers in this plant lived paycheck to paycheck and in some cases both husband and wife worked at WeatherSeal.
Mike Hedberg, the Director of the Office of Orrville Industrial Development was quoted in The Daily Record saying, “Our priorities are the employees. We have already contacted Job and Family Services. We’ll contact American WeatherSeal about getting employees started down that path.”
Three years ago, American WeatherSeal became a part of Monarch Holdings, Inc. which is a holding company focused on manufacturing and marketing.
Monarch Holdings released a written statement saying the decision to close the company was the result of “a number of factors.” The housing market has been hit incredibly hard during the past few quarters which has had great impacts on production related to the construction of homes and other buildings.
In 2005, American WeatherSeal gained recognition when they received The Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) award. SHARP awards recognize a small group of companies that exceed federal standards for health and employee safety programs.
WeatherSeal was seen as a role model for other businesses and as the dawning of a new industry in Orrville. Now it seems WeatherSeal is another example of our troubled economy.