Thread: Crane Cams shuts down, workers laid off

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February 24, 2009

Crane Cams shuts down, workers laid off

By JIM WITTERS
Senior Business Writer

DAYTONA BEACH — Crane Cams, a 56-year-old auto parts manufacturer, closed its doors this week and laid off its employees, a worker said today.

The news took Volusia County’s top economic development officer by surprise. City, county and state officials were working with Crane Cams and officials from its New Jersey parent, Mikronite Technologies, to keep the company open and in the community.

“We were trying to help them through this transition,” said Rick Michael, Volusia County economic development director. “They were considering a transfer of ownership. We were not expecting any closure.”

An automated voice mail system at Crane’s plant on Fentress Boulevard announced at midday today the company was closed and suggested calling back during business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. A call to Mikronite’s New Jersey offices produced similar results. Six cars sat in the parking lot early this afternoon at the local plant, which employed 220 just three years ago.

Inside the lobby, a reception desk sat empty. A call from the lobby phone got an answer from Dennis Burgess, who declined to comment and said no one at the plant could provide information.

In the parking lot, 14-year employee Ronald Dorn was leaving the plant for what he believed was the last time

He said workers were told during the past week that layoffs were likely, but he didn’t expect the plant to close.

Mikronite received approval in 2006 to receive tax rebates from the state and the county amid discussion about moving its New Jersey operations here. But the company ended its contract with the state in 2008 due to nonperformance, Michael said.

“Crane has gone through a series of small layoffs recently,” he said.

Crane Cams and Crane Technologies Group were founded by Harvey J. Crane Jr. in 1953 as Crane Engineering Inc. in Hallandale. The company is well known in high-performance and racing circles for its line of camshafts and engine valve train components.

In 1979, Crane Cams became an employee-owned company. Some operations moved to Daytona Beach in 1981, with the remainder of the operation and employees relocating here in 1985.

Mikronite, an industrial technology firm, bought Crane in 2006.

In March 2007, Mikronite sold its property on Fentress to STAG Capital Partners of Boston, then signed a 10-year lease.

oh no. when will this stop.

Originally Posted by jyardgirl

oh no. when will this stop.

When all the guns are outlawed, hotrods are illegal and crushed, the banks are nationalized, Gov run health care is on line, the Amero is put into circulation, Paloski is President, Sarah Palin is in prison, and the revolution is started. Sometime after that it will all stop.

One of the unavoidable side affects of an economy in "free fall" is that companies producing non-essential goods must rely on retained earning and hard capital to sustain their existence during what will inevitably be a non-productive period of time. To survive, a company must take in more revenue than is reasonable consumed in expenses.

Those companies that continually produce too few "optional" consumer goods to cover their expenses will, in all likelihood, fail when they have exhausted their reserves. These reserves may include large lines of credit that will probably not be repaid which further exacerbates the problem by "stiffing the creditors" who will, in turn, charge higher fees to service those businesses that are remaining viable.

While we have no real insight to the management at Crane, it would appear that the company has been experiencing difficulty for some time. It's hard, but necessary, to make decisions that will save the company when the cost is the employees. My heart certainly goes out to those at Crane that have been let go - probably without a lot of compensation - and now must find suitable employment in this difficult economy.

If you're gainfully employed - remember to thank your employer and work each day with the enthusiasm of you first day on the job.

Wow. I'm glad I did the rebuild this last winter! I hope this isn't just the beginning, but my gut tells me it will get a lot worse!

that is to bad for the workers . i have been told that they having a ruff time over a year ago . i do not used crane cams or many of there parts but many cam grinders that use the crane cam cores to grind there roller cams on . but there are others that make as good or better cores there is still many out there still grinding cams

I remember that maybe a year or so ago I did a post about how things were getting bad economically. I was poo poo'd a little and compared to Chicken Little. Some said that things in their areas were actually on the upswing. Now, I am not trying to live up to my user name or anything, but perhaps we Floridians were just a little ahead of the curve on seeing what was developing. I was seeing jobs go away (my own at the time), home foreclosures were rising, and business after business was closing it's doors.

I'm normally a pretty positive person but I also have two eyes and ears.........there was no mistaking what was going on. Now it seems the rest of the country has begun to experience what we here have been seeing for the past couple or several years. The reason Florida is hit so hard is that we really don't produce a d*** thing here. No manufacturing to speak of, and our economy is built on service industries. To my way of thinking the thing that built this country and made it strong was the fact we BUILT stuff that other people bought. Now we buy those things from others and base our economy on things like Disney World, and our beaches.

We also had kind of a pyramid scheme going because our economy depended on new people coming in to pour money into our housing and other markets. We had all these "impact fees" that we tacked on to newcomers when they bought a new home or licensed their car. We also built too many homes, so when the supply exceeded the demand the building and real estate markets collapsed.

Crane is just the latest of many that have and will continue to fold. Just today at work we called a local alternator/starter repair shop that has been a Ft. Myers institution for many years. The phone number is disconnected. Riding to the shop the other night we couldn't drive a block without seeing some sign saying "going out of business" or "business location for rent." And, these aren't businesses that one would expect to fall by the wayside under normal circumstances..........most are long established companies that employed a lot of people.

So if I sound a little pessimistic it is because I see what is going on around me, and I thank God every day that I and my loved ones have jobs. There are a whole bunch of fine people who are not that fortunate right now, and I suspect the rest of the country is seeing similar issues right now as well. I pray that things turn around before it gets much worse.

Don

well that may be so Itoldyouso but you do not live a mich .it to bad for anyone that works hard and lost there job i think things are got going to get better for some time

And when it does get better, if it does get better, we are gonna be in debt, BIG DEBT.

Bigger debt than we have ever known.

Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

well that may be so Itoldyouso but you do not live a mich .it to bad for anyone that works hard and lost there job i think things are got going to get better for some time

I know Pat. We just hired a new Tech who was from Detroit, and he has been telling me about the job market, etc in your neck of the woods.


Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

I know Pat. We just hired a new Tech who was from Detroit, and he has been telling me about the job market, etc in your neck of the woods.


Don

bay city is a small town i can drive around and show you big companies that have left in the late 70s and early 80s hard for me to say if small business pick up the slack of many good paying jobs that left and never came back but from what i hear are new leader is going after the small shops with more taxes

goodyear in virginia announced yesteday that they are laying off 400 workers here. i feel so sorry for the people but not for goodyear. in my opinion their products have really gone down hill. Quimondo filed for chapter 11 last week because their workers were going to take them to court to get their severance for violating the warn act. smithfield hams has closed a factory in the past week laying off all of their workers there. and so on and so on. every state is suffering. But in Virginia our biggest employer is the government so i do not think that we will lose those jobs.

Originally Posted by maddddog

And when it does get better, if it does get better, we are gonna be in debt, BIG DEBT.

Bigger debt than we have ever known.

You got that right!!!

I don't know.... Seems lately it's always "the economy" when things go bad and businesses close. Not saying the economy didn't kill Crane, but I guess I have to wonder if it's the economy---or bad business practices that a weak economy won't tolerate....??????

Companies are closing around here, too. But some of them I know were only making it because people were living on borrowed money, spending way beyond what their revenue justified, and generally just plain mis-managing their assets.... I'm not saying the economy is good, and certainly the service related business and business' dealing in non-essential goods will be the first to suffer. But, a well managed business based on proper business tactics and structuring will cut back on expenses as they have done in many other "slow times" and survive to florish again when things get better.

I don't know, but blaming everything on the economy IMO is just a cop out. I've been living here in the "poverty belt" for so long, I've just learned that not getting over-extended and learning to live within my means is just a good way to survive!!!!! I find it difficult to feel sorry for a company going broke that throws money around like it's nothing.... Well run companies bank money during the good times to ensure their survivability in the bad times, not waste them on outlandish extras and huge salaries and bonuses.....

A lot of companies who survived the 80's saw this whole mess coming a couple years back and made the necessary adjustments then. I guess I'm just a bit skeptical and refuse to accept such a broad generality as "the economy" every time a business goes belly up...... But then, my glass is still half full!!!!

JMO, but I think those who are insisting that "the economy" is so bad that they are doomed to fail are probably going to fail....

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

I don't know.... Seems lately it's always "the economy" when things go bad and businesses close. Not saying the economy didn't kill Crane, but I guess I have to wonder if it's the economy---or bad business practices that a weak economy won't tolerate....??????

Companies are closing around here, too. But some of them I know were only making it because people were living on borrowed money, spending way beyond what their revenue justified, and generally just plain mis-managing their assets.... I'm not saying the economy is good, and certainly the service related business and business' dealing in non-essential goods will be the first to suffer. But, a well managed business based on proper business tactics and structuring will cut back on expenses as they have done in many other "slow times" and survive to florish again when things get better.

I don't know, but blaming everything on the economy IMO is just a cop out. I've been living here in the "poverty belt" for so long, I've just learned that not getting over-extended and learning to live within my means is just a good way to survive!!!!! I find it difficult to feel sorry for a company going broke that throws money around like it's nothing.... Well run companies bank money during the good times to ensure their survivability in the bad times, not waste them on outlandish extras and huge salaries and bonuses.....

A lot of companies who survived the 80's saw this whole mess coming a couple years back and made the necessary adjustments then. I guess I'm just a bit skeptical and refuse to accept such a broad generality as "the economy" every time a business goes belly up...... But then, my glass is still half full!!!!

JMO, but I think those who are insisting that "the economy" is so bad that they are doomed to fail are probably going to fail....

I would have to agree with that logic Dave. The problems the economy is having were created, they didnt just happen to all us poor hepless victims.
Sure, most didnt see it coming, but that doesnt excuse buying a house you couldnt afford, over extending your credit cards, etc.

Thats what is so upsetting about Obama's approach to fixing it. He is supporting this hopeless victim mentality. Sorry for getting political, ....... well not really.