Caterpillar Closing Kilgore Facility
Posted/updated on: October 30, 2013 at 4:57 pm
PEORIA, ILL. The Caterpillar facility in Kilgore is closing. Word comes in a statement issued Tuesday by spokesperson Rachel Potts of Caterpillars home office in Peoria, Illinois. The facility will shut down by the end of the year. Potts says, In Caterpillar Inc.s 3Q financial release on October 23, 2013, it was stated that the company has taken many actions to align our costs with the environment were in currently. Further, we reported that while weve done much already, were not finished and expect to take deeper actions to improve our cost structure and balance sheet. Today, the company notified employees in its Kilgore, Texas, plant that following an extensive strategic review of its mining operations in Kilgore, it will close the facility to position this business to be more successful and competitive throughout the cycles in a rapidly changing mining industry.
Potts continues, Production of dippers made in Kilgore will shift to another Caterpillar facility in Wamego, Kansas, and ballast box production will shift to our South Milwaukee, Wisconsin facility by year end. The closure will impact approximately 100 people. Caterpillar will offer eligible full-time employees a severance package and transitional support. We recognize this will impact our workforce and their families, but after considering a number of options and alternatives, we have concluded we need to take this step to achieve a more sustainable, long-term cost structure.
