Wescast to Close Georgia Plant

Canadian-based Wescast Industries will put more than 300 people out of work when it closes a Georgia plant at the end of April.
The plant, in Cordele, Ga., had been for sale for some time, but when a recent deal fell through to sell it, company officials declared that it was the end of the line.
The Canadian auto parts company “had no choice but to close (it) down,” said chairman and CEO Ed Frackowiak.
Company officials held a meeting Friday to inform employees.
There are plans to give employees severance packages, but “some will be released earlier,” Frackowiak said.
Cordele-Crisp Chamber of Commerce officials will do what is necessary to help the employees find new jobs, said chamber president Monica Simmons.
Frackowiak said in a July press release that the Cordele operation had been “struggling for some time,” foreshadowing the plant’s closure.
The Brantford, Ont., based Wescast, founded in 1902, is the world’s largest supplier of exhaust manifolds for passenger cars and light trucks.