UPDATED: Recession sinks Century Boat Co.
Employees thought company was making a comeback
December 02, 2009 12:05:00 AM
SCARLET SIMS / News Herald Writer
PANAMA CITY — Century Boat Co. will stop manufacturing boats in Panama City, surprising employees who thought the company was making a comeback this year.
“We left Wednesday without knowing anything,” said Freddie Parrish, a laminator who lost his job Tuesday. “We were doing what we thought was good.”
Production will cease immediately, said Martin Peters, Yamaha Marine Group spokesman. The blow is significant during a recession that has driven the local unemployment rate up to 9.5 percent, local officials said.
“We’re really not at a place where we can afford to lose any jobs,” said Kim Bodine, Gulf Coast Workforce Board executive director. “It’s just bad when we’re losing a whole company like that.”
Some employees were notified about layoffs by mail, Parrish said. Others were told this morning that their positions were eliminated and given severance packages. A total of 43 were laid off, while another 20 will remain working as sales and customer service representatives. Those employees will remain at the facility during 2010, but Yamaha Motor Corp., Century’s parent company, plans to sell the facility, Peters said.
Employees at the plant Tuesday evening said they could not speak with the press. Employees did indicate they were surprised the facility is closing because demand was ticking up.
Century Boat slowed production last fall when the recession was causing sales to decline dramatically. The company laid off more than 100 employees in October after eliminating 40 positions last June. Parrish said only about 10 to 15 employees were rehired this year, and he was among them.
But, in an August e-mail, Vice President and General Manager Dean Burnett said Century Boat was doing “slightly better in sales than the industry trend.” Century Boats sold the best out of any other boats during a recent boat show, Parrish said. The company had enough orders to last through April, he said.
How well Century Boats were selling wasn’t the deciding factor in the closing, Peters said.
“It’s not about an uptick in production and demand,” Peters said. “The recession has played a big part in this.”
The industry as a whole, especially saltwater marine boating, has seen sales decline, Peters said. Yamaha wanted to focus on streamlining operations and improving core products.
Yamaha does not plan to bring production back to Panama City should the economy recover, Peters said. The decision is final, he said.
Century has been a fixture in Panama City since 1983 and had 375 employees at its peak. Loosing a longtime manufacturing business such as Century Boating affects other jobs indirectly, said Janet Watermeier, county Economic Development Alliance executive director.
The Workforce Center assembled a team to help laid-off workers, Workforce Board spokeswoman Maria Goodwin said. Parrish is already sending out applications for another job, he said Tuesday night.
