JW Aluminum puts 65 back to work

JW Aluminum announced late last week that the aluminum manufacturer will recall 65 employees to its Russellville facility following an upturn in demand for the plant’s products, which include heating and cooling components and packaging for consumer goods. The Mount Holly, S.C.-based company will employ 85 workers at its Russellville plant, which was acquired from Alcoa Inc. in 2004. Senior vice president for strategy and business development Craig Eddy said approximately 20 vacancies created by layoffs in January will not be filled, but added the employee recall was the first phase of returning the Russellville facility to full-scale operation. “It’s our first step and we will continue to evaluate the needs of the plant,” Eddy said Tuesday. “We’re still not at 100 percent capacity, but we’re getting there.” Eddy attributed layoffs earlier this year and last week’s announcement to the ups and downs of an economy fighting off a recession. “This economy is driving everything,” Eddy said. “Our goal is to keep people working, but we need a little help from the economy to reach that goal.” Company officials hope to maintain the plant’s level of employment throughout the summer and going forward, according to a statement released by the company announcing the employee recall. “We believe we have seen the bottom of the market, but we will continue to pay close attention to market conditions,” Brien Doyle, manager at the Russellville facility, said in the release. Don Kassing, president and CEO of JW Aluminum, touted last week’s announcement as good news for the company as well as the Arkansas River Valley. “We, like many others in our industry, made hard decisions earlier this year to reduce our workforce in line with market demand,” he said in the statement. “As demand has begun to return and JW has been successful in developing new accounts, we are now at a point where we need to bring a significant number of people back. This is good news for JW, our employees in Russellville and the surrounding community.” Last week’s announcement came as good news to Hector resident Josh Hanna, a cast operator who worked for more than three years at the Russellville plant before being laid off in January. “I was glad,” Hanna said when asked about the employee recall. “I was ready to come back.” Hanna, a husband and father of one, said times got tough following the layoffs. To support his wife and daughter, Hanna said he did odd jobs to make ends meet. Now, Hanna can return to the job he enjoys and his co-workers who have become more family than business acquaintances. “They’re like a second family to me and have been since I got here,” Hanna said. JW Aluminum manufactures specialty flat-rolled aluminum products, including “fin stock” used by the heating and cooling industry, light gauge converter foil for the flexible packaging industry, honeycomb foil for the aerospace industry, bare and painted sheet products for window coverings, building and construction supplies and other foil and sheet products. In addition to the Russellville location, JW Aluminum operates plants in Mount Holly, S.C.; St. Louis, Mo.; Jackson, Tenn.; and Williamsport, Penn.