FENNIMORE, Wis. — In a town of 2,773 people, a single factory closure can leave a significant portion of the community without jobs.
That’s what may be happening in Fennimore, Wis.
One of the town’s biggest employers — Energizer — is allegedly planning to move its factory out of Wisconsin. As a result, 300 people in Fennimore would lose their jobs.
The company said in a statement to Spectrum News it intends to “conduct a phased consolidation of our facilities in Wisconsin with existing locations.”
The factory has a second location in Portage, Wis. That location’s exit would leave another 300 jobless — 600 Wisconsinites in all.
Teamsters, the union that represents Energizers workers, put out a statement last week saying that Energizer had plans to outsource 600 combined jobs at the Fennimore and Portage locations.
“Energizer is putting a plan in motion to kill hundreds of good jobs here in America and offshore them in favor of even bigger profits,” said Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien. “Some workers have been in these factories for more than 40 years. The American public should be outraged by these plans. Our entire union is furious. If Energizer thinks it’s going to outsource American jobs and destroy Wisconsin communities, we’ve got news for them — the Teamsters are coming and we will stop at nothing to protect American workers.”
According to the press release from the union, Energizer plans to close the two plants in the next 12 to 24 months.
Steven Lendosky is the owner of Brechler-Lendosky Group LLC, an insurance agency in Fennimore. He said he has already had many of the local Energizer workers inquire about insurance policies.
“With the loss of group benefits, it is an option that some of them will have to go forward with,” said Lendosky.
Some Fennimore community members expressed excitement that the plant may be closing because that meant that they could go into early retirement but Lendosky said this would still have a huge impact on the community.
”They have been an anchor in our community as far as community involvement and also with the number of people that have worked there throughout the years and still work there, they have been a major part of this community,” said Lendosky.
Jutta Steroebel is retired but has lived in Fennimore for most of her life and said the Energizer plant plays a very important role in the town.
“It has been here since 1968 and it has given many people many jobs,” said Steroebel. “We are a very small community… that will put a big jolt on everyone’s life in this town.”
Steroebel said if the alleged departure is true, it is going to have a major impact on families that are raising children.
“You would have to move out and get a job where it was available, not in a small town like this,” said Steroebel.