Albia business closes doors

By PAT SHAVER Courier Staff Writer

April 23, 2009 12:45 am

— ALBIA — An Albia business abruptly closed its doors this week, leaving employees and community members wondering why.
DeLong Sportswear, which manufactures award jackets and other sportswear items in Albia, closed Monday without much notice. About 40 people lost their jobs.
Marsha Leffler, former assistant manager at the Albia DeLong plant, said the closing was a surprise to everyone.
The corporate office called the plant on Monday.
“They called down to the plant and told us to lock the doors, that DeLongs was officially out of business and to send everybody home,” Leffler said. “I couldn’t really tell you exactly why it closed.”
In a good year, DeLong employees would work full-time hours for nine months and have the rest of the year off. This year, though, most employees were only working one to two days a week. Leffler said the company had been in trouble before but was able to pull through.
“As slow as it had gotten, anytime we asked if there was a problem and if we needed to be on the lookout for another job or if we should ride this out, we were told there’s nothing to worry about,” said Leffler.
Calls to the corporate office in Grinnell on Wednesday went unanswered.
There are about 1,500 manufacturing jobs in Monroe County, so losing 40-50 of those had an impact, said Dan Tometich, community development specialist with Albia Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC).
“We’re going to do what we can to try to find someone to fill the building and continue to grow jobs, but that’s tough in this economy,” Tometich said.
The Grinnell DeLong plant also closed on Monday. Another plant in Atlantic closed earlier this year.
“It’s obviously not good. We value them being there,” said Monroe County Supervisor Dennis Ryan. “The way things are right now, any type of downturn has a lot of impact.”
Albia Mayor Richard Clark said any job loss in Albia is a big deal, and he worries about the former DeLong employees.
“To lose 40 jobs in Albia, that’s going to hurt,” Clark said. “There’s people that work at DeLong’s and I’m sure that’s their main income.”
Clark said other than DeLong closing, business in Albia remains stable.
“I just don’t know of a bunch of jobs out here that people can get,” Clark said.
DeLong first started business in Albia in 1988. The business grew in 1994, adding a facility in Lovilia, along with an additional building in Albia for a customer service center. At that time, it was operating six other plants in Iowa and had facilities in New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Oregon. At one time, the Albia plant had about 100 employees, according to the AIDC office.
Iowa Workforce Development is planning a rapid response meeting for DeLong’s employees 9-11 a.m. Wednesday at the Albia Chamber of Commerce Office.
“It’s a shame, it just really is. It’s heartbreaking to lose your job that way,” Leffler said.
Pat Shaver can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at p.shaver@ottumwacourier.com.