DeWitt (WSYR-TV) - The end is on the horizon for a once-booming manufacturer in Central New York.
Production will end this week at New Process Gear at the end of the second shift on Thursday.
There are about 370 people still on the job at the facility.
After Thursday, it’s down to 31 who will complete the final closure.
Most of the equipment remaining at New Process Gear has been moved to other Magna plants. The two assembly lines remaining will stop running on Thursday, signaling the end of a long line of proud manufacturing for more than 12 decades.
“It’s sad because there’s a lot of families here that benefited from that plant…lot of good skills we’re going to lose,” said Marion Ervin, a 31-year veteran at the plant.
Ervin was a supervisor when he retired in 2003. He remembers a plant full of people turning out thousands of transfer cases every day, helping power the four-wheel drive boom, and now watching as the production comes to an end.
“I just take it as a matter of fact…yes it’s closed…no the area didn’t sink into a hole…we just moved on,” Ervin said.
Plant leadership declined interviews, saying they wanted to keep the focus on the workers. They're calling the plant’s final week “Employee Appreciation Week.”
