‘Sweet Home Alabama’ — Remington Heads to Huntsville

Remington Outdoor Company (Remington) will open a big new factory in Alabama. Remington, formerly the Freedom Group, encompasses 18 brands in the gun-making and outdoor industry. According to the Military Times and Alabama news media, Remington will be opening a 500,000-square-foot production facility near Huntsville, Alabama. This could bring as many as 2,000 jobs to the Huntsville area. The new plant is not earmarked for a specific brand in the Remington family, so it could produce a variety of firearms products. (Remington also operates factories in Kentucky and New York, and an ammunition plant in Arkansas.) After necessary build-outs, the Huntsville plant is expected to start production in 2015.

Meanwhile, New York state officials are claiming that Remington’s plans to open a new plant in Alabama will not take jobs from Remington’s major factory in Ilion, New York. A spokesman for N.Y. Governor Cuomo posted: “Some are misinformed, others gleefully spreading misinformation, but to be clear, no Remington jobs are leaving NY.” Remington currently employs about 1,300 workers at the one million-square-foot Ilion manufacturing plant. Despite New York state officials’ reassurances, the long-term fate of the Ilion plant (and N.Y. jobs) is unclear. Eight months ago, Remington stated: “Remington will not run or abandon its loyal and hard working 1,300 employees without considerable thought and deliberation.” That doesn’t sound like an unequivocal commitment….

According to the Military Times:

“Before settling on Huntsville, the company was courted by no less than 24 states and various localities hoping to add hundreds of new jobs to their economies. The selection of the Huntsville area makes sense, with a skilled and technical workforce already in place. The area is home to the Army’s Redstone Arsenal, which has 35,000 military and civilian employees.

Other major technical employers in the area, such as NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and Toyota, ensure ROC will have a large pool of talent to draw upon for its engineering, technical manufacturing and product development efforts. The fact that Alabama is regarded as a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights also played a role in the selection of the area.”

READ Related Story in Forbes about Remington Outdoor Company (Freedom Group)

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Tags: Alabama, Cuomo, Freedom Group, Huntsville, Ilion New York, Military Times, Remington