Tifton will take another economic blow as the third major company in a year makes plans to close its doors.

Tifton Aluminum, which employs approximately 200 people at its plant in the Industrial Park, will be closing by the end of October according to a press release issued Monday by Alcoa, which owns the local company.

The press release stated that Alcoa had been unable to secure a suitable buyer for the Tifton plant. Alcoa was able to sell its two other remaining soft-alloy extrusion facilities in Warren, Ohio, and Plant City, Fla., to Golden Aluminum.

According to the press release, impacted salaried employees will be offered severance and work assistance programs.

In November 2006, Alcoa announced a reorganization that would put the Tifton plant, along with the Ohio and Florida facilities, up for sale and stated they hoped the three plants would be sold by March of this year. The administrators of Alcoa assured workers here that it would be business as usual.

In the reorganization last year, Alcoa, which is the world’s second largest producer of aluminum, joined its soft alloy extrusion group with the SAPA group of Norway’s Orkla ASA, cutting 6,000 jobs worldwide in the process. Alcoa’s chairman and CEO Alain Belda told the Associated Press at that time that the cuts were necessary to increase the corporation’s profitability.

Kevin Lowery, spokesman for Alcoa, said last year, “We had hoped that Tifton would be included in the joint venture with SAPA.”

Tifton Aluminum is the third major corporation to close in the last year. Shaw Industries closed one of their two plants located in the Industrial Park last October. When they closed the manufacturing plant on Vernon Drive, 228 employees lost their jobs. Avondale Mills also closed its plant last July and the 89 people who worked at the denim manufacturing plant lost their jobs.

“We are saddened by the announcement that Tifton Aluminum is closing and disappointed that a deal could not be made for the sale of the plant,” said Earl Denham, president and CEO of the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce. “Tifton Aluminum has been a great corporate citizen for a very long time. The Chamber of Commerce has already begun to try to find openings for the individuals who have lost their jobs.”

In June, Tifton Aluminum was honored with the Arts Citizen of the Year award by the Tifton-Tift County Arts Council for its contribution to arts. Tifton Aluminum/Alcoa Foundation has been an avid arts advocate and supporter of the arts for the last 30 years and has contributed almost $100,000 to support the arts in Tift County.

Donna Popp, human resource generalist at Tifton Aluminum, said all calls regarding the plant closing were being referred to Kevin Lowery at the corporate office.

Lowery told The Gazette on Tuesday, “We tried to do the best we could for everyone.” He did not want to comment when asked the reason why the Tifton plant did not sell.

Asked what would happen to the building, Lowery said, “Traditionally we begin a process to work with the communities and officials to find ways to help market the facility to offset job loss.”

Tifton Aluminum was founded in 1966.



To contact reporter Jana Cone, call 382-4321, ext. 208.