Genie begins downsizing at Moses Lake plant

Some employees will lose jobs

MOSES LAKE - An undetermined number of nonunion employees at the Genie Industries plant in Moses Lake will lose their jobs as part of the company's voluntary exit program, a company spokesperson said Tuesday.

The downsizing is because of a decline in customer orders and increase in inventory, confirmed company spokesperson Melinda Zimmerman-Smith. All positions are affected, from production workers to administration, she said.

Genie, an aerial work platform manufacturer based in Redmond, Wash., currently employs about 650 people in Moses Lake, she said.

It wasn't clear Tuesday how many Moses Lake employees will be out of work because it depends on how many workers decide to leave on their own, Zimmerman-Smith noted.

The employees who participate in the exit program will be given "incentive benefits," but she declined to elaborate in order to

protect employees' privacy.

If not enough employees leave, Genie expects to have an involuntary reduction in force, meaning jobs will be permanently eliminated, she said.

The company needs to wait and see what the level of employee interest is before any future decisions are made, she explained.

Genie will work with an outplacement service to help departing employees find other work, Zimmerman-Smith said.

The service will be available to anyone who participates in the exit program, she added.

The exit program was also offered to employees at Genie's other U.S. locations, which includes plants in Redmond, Wash., Baraga, Mich., Waco, Texas, Elk Point, S.D., and Rock Hill, S.C., she said.

Zimmerman-Smith emphasized Genie is financially sound and the company participates in a cyclical industry.

"Our business, overall, has excellent long-term prospects," she said.

Although the company works in an industry that's suffering a downturn, it's growing over the longterm, Zimmerman-Smith added.

The Moses Lake plant closed for a week in September and reopened due to the slowdown of the construction industry. There were also fewer orders for equipment.

"We have no plans to close the Moses Lake plant," she said Tuesday.

Genie's announcement to shed employees comes after a Sept. 22 groundbreaking ceremony at its new manufacturing facility in Changzhou, China.

Zimmerman-Smith said the company is moving forward with the China plant, although there aren't any employees there yet.

"This endeavor underscores our goal of becoming the most global aerial work platform manufacturer with local production to meet local needs," she explained. "China presents one of the biggest local markets for us and our facility is a large step in executing our manufacturing strategy."

Genie is a subsidiary of the publicly traded Terex Corporation. Zimmerman-Smith referred questions about the company's stock performance to an employee who was unavailable.