Laid-off Amana workers getting 60 new jobs

The good news is the 1,600 jobs at Whirlpool Corp.'s Amana plant will be retained with state and local financial assistance.

For Eastern Iowans looking for employment, the bad news is the 60 new jobs created by a new product line at the plant will be filled by laid-off Amana employees.

Michigan-based Whirlpool on Thursday said it will make a $20 million capital investment in the Amana plant, which produces refrigerators with bottom-mount freezers.

The Iowa Department of Economic Development Board on Thursday approved a $6.5 million forgivable loan from the Grow Iowa Values Fund - $4 million this year and $2.5 million next year. The state incentives were approved a day after the Iowa County Board of Supervisors agreed to provide $1.5 million in tax increment financing to Whirlpool.

Whirlpool also announced that it will transfer its 50-pound icemaker production line from Evansville, Ind., to the Amana plant this summer. The Evansville plant is slated to close later this year.

Dan Smith, division vice president at the Amana plant, said the capital improvements at the Amana plant will include energy-efficient lighting, possibly a new roof, paint and parking lot improvements.

Smith said other improvements will address quality and safety as well as productivity measures to give the plant more flexibility in meeting customers' needs.

Given that Whirlpool's competition is, for the most part, based in low-cost countries, Smith said it's the company's confidence in the hourly employees that helped the company decide to make the investment in Amana.

“We are committed to keeping jobs in Iowa, keeping jobs in the United States, so we need to make changes and make improvements to drive that sustainability,” Smith said.

Whirlpool laid off about 440 workers in October 2008 at the Amana plant. Smith said about 90 production workers will be recalled in the next couple of weeks to meet anticipated seasonal demand for refrigerators.

“We are launching some great innovations in this refrigeration season,” he said. “It's our hope that we will gain enough volume to get all of our folks called back from layoff.”

Randy Krewson, business representative for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which represents production employees in Amana, said his members were “pleased and excited.”

“Most of the folks have been asking questions about it for quite some time,” Krewson said. “We've all been aware that this project has been in the making and bringing employees back to work is always good news.”

Jeff Noel, Whirlpool vice president of corporate and public affairs, said visits to Whirlpool headquarters by Priority One representatives were critically important to Thursday's announcement.

“You cannot predict when you're going to need or want something a year or two years in advance,” Noel said. “You've got to maintain that relationship so that when you need something, you don't have to go out and get to know one another.”

Smith said Amana workers rehired for the icemaker assembly line will receive the rate of pay they were making when they were laid off.

Dave DeWitte and James Q. Lynch of The Gazette contributed to this story.