American Fuel Cell & Coated Fabrics Co. of Magnolia is closing its plant in Magnolia, a move that will affect up to 300 jobs, as it brings a new plant online in Texas.
The closure was first reported late Monday by the Magnolia Reporter website. On Tuesday, Britt Gourley, the company’s chairman and interim president and CEO, confirmed plans to move the Magnolia operations to a new plant in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The company, known as Amfuel, has been a presence in the city since the end of World War II. A timetable for winding down operations there was not available Tuesday. Gourley has not returned an email and phone call from Arkansas Business.
“We are deeply disappointed that we were unable to continue at the Magnolia plant and would like to specifically recognize the efforts of the city of Magnolia, the [Magnolia Economic Development Corporation] and the state of Arkansas,” Gourley told the Reporter in an email. “Unfortunately, and as they are informed, our collective attempts to remain in Magnolia failed but it was not for a lack of trying.”
Gourley wrote that “a number” of eligible Magnolia employees have been offered jobs in Texas.
Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, told Arkansas Business on Tuesday that while AEDC has not provided incentives to the company, members of its training team have been in touch with Amfuel since 2011.
AEDC helped the firm with a round of employee assessments that were completed in 2012, when the firm was owned by Zodiac Aerospace of Plaisir, France.
AEDC Executive Mike Preston said his agency was aware of Amfuel’s plan to close the Magnolia plant.
“We have worked with Amfuel over the years to ensure a successful endeavor in our state, including offering training assistance for employees,” Preston said in a statement. “We are disappointed in this decision but do wish Amfuel the best as they continue to realign their company.”
The company now known as Amfuel arrived in Columbia County at the end of World War II, when Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. moved from California and took over the former Magnolia Cotton Mill. The company took on its current name in 1983, according to its website.
Amfuel makes fuel cells for the aerospace industry. It operates out of a 310,000-SF plant on 71 acres along North Vine Street.
Talk of the plant’s possible closure has been circulating since last year, even before its current owners, an investor group led by Crosslake Investment Group, purchased the plant in June 2015.
According to communications with union representatives obtained by the Magnolia Reporter, Gourley said the plant has sustained “significant losses.” Gourley specifically cited “lack of productivity” and “escalating costs associated with irreparably deteriorating infrastructure.”
Amfuel opened its new plant inside an old Delphi operation in Wichita Falls earlier this year. According to the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, the city council last month approved a $2 million incentive package that includes money for capital equipment purchases, cash and a state grant for training employees.
Gourley told the newspaper that Amfuel was attracted to the site’s location, including its proximity to Dallas-Fort Worth, Sheppard Air Force Base and other aerospace companies.
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