Remington is pulling up stakes! Bye Bye New Yawk!

[Mike Irwin]

Read this this morning:

http://weaponsman.com/?p=15623

Basically Remington and a bunch of its subsidiary companies are pulling up stakes and moving to the facility in Huntsville, Alabama.

Unfortunately, that means 100% layoffs at several of the companies (employees can reapply).

Am I mistaken that, in the aftermath of the passage of the SAFE Act, Remington's talking heads said that yeah, SAFE Act stinks, but we're staying put?

Apparently some manufacturing is staying in Ilion, but not much. It would be better if it all moved.

 

[44 AMP]

Well, this appears to be a win for all the voices who wanted to boycott Remington for staying in NY. Wonder how many of those strident voices who said they would never buy another Remington product (because Rem didn't move the week after the SAFE Act passage) are going to buy a Remington now?

Huntsville? Summers are brutal, but the winters are nicer than NY, for sure.

Remington and its components are a big outfit, and moving them is not a trivial matter. And neither is the money involved.

The sad part is, thanks to NY politics, people are going to lose jobs, and/or have to move. Somebody should tally up the loss to the NY tax base (don't forget the income taxes from workers wages lost, and property tax loss when those former Remington workers have to move, or lose their houses...and the effect all those jobs going away on the local economies...and the added cost to NY from the increase in unemployment and all other public assistance...)

This needs to be publically and repeatedly laid at the feet of those politicians and policy advocates responsible.

On the other hand, NYers are now going to be SAFEr, isn't that a small price to pay for the lives saved?...

What lives saved? How many? They won't /can't answer that...and even if they try, it will be a lie, anyway...

 

[g.willikers]

Lately there's been ads on tv trying to attract businesses to NY and bragging about how great NY is.
Those folks are delusional.
Other than over regulation, high taxes and oppressive laws, NY is probably just fine.
Good for Remington.

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

The antigun folks in NY will say good riddance for their version of ideological purity. Anyone who worked for a gun company is worthless anyway to them.

Recall some Democrats asked Little Mikey Bloomberg to lay off the gun stuff in their states as it was hurting their candidates. He said that he didn't care - the antigun message was more important than their losses.

Same attitude.

 

[arizonaopa]

Condolences to NY workers

First, I would like to offer my condolences to all of the Remington workers in NY that will no longer have jobs. You have worked hard and because of the state of NY, you will not have that job any longer. I urge you to talk to Remington and see if you can retain your job if you move to AL. The area is nice and you will find the people to be very nice once you get to know them. Although, I live in AZ, I travel to see family in AL as often as I can.

Second, to Remington, now that you have seen the light, I will take a second look at your firearms. I have always respected Remington and now I feel that they are taking our rights into consideration.

 

[44 AMP]

Oh, I realize the anti gunners will gladly pay the cost, and consider it cheap, but the rest of the people need to know the real cost that they are paying for the anti-gunners nirvana...


And, please DON'T think this means you can charge an extra $200 for anything Remington made in NY because they are now going to be "collectable"!

After all, its not like they are ...Winchesters....

 

[JWT]

The anti gun crowd in NY is getting to see the chickens come home to roost. But, as other have commented, they'll see it as a victory.

 

[hfl73]

There is no need to worry, the Cuomo propaganda machine is running television ads claiming 400,000 new jobs are being created through his initiatives to make NYS business friendly.

 

[Pilot]

This makes a lot of sense. NY's business climate stinks, and everything is expensive there, including energy.

 

[Sierra280]

Makes me glad my 700 says Ilion NY on the side of the barrel.

No matter how they spin this, there's no question this will be a huge tax revenue loss for the community Remington is leaving.

Hopefully all employees will have the opportunity to relocate with the company. That would be good for them, plus I'm hoping the 'anti' politicians will take note of all those people (and their families) whose votes they have now lost.

 

[jtmckinney]

Safe Act and other politics in NY probably had something to do with it but I am thinking it is more a business decision because of lower taxes and labor cost in Alabama. Blaming the anti gun politicians makes a lot of sense from a marketing standpoint to the customers that buy their products.

Hopefully all employees will have the opportunity to relocate with the company. That would be good for them, plus I'm hoping the 'anti' politicians will take note of all those people (and their families) whose votes they have now lost.

I am thinking the employees did not vote for the anti gun politicians to begin with. If anything with these voters leaving is tipping the balance even more in their favor.

Have a great day!
James

 

[barnbwt]

Fellas, it's not just them leaving NY, btw . Rem's just finally collapsing like a neutron star, is all, toward better pastures

TCB

 

[FrankenMauser]

I wouldn't read too much into this, politically. It's a business strategy.
Remington is shutting down a lot of their smaller operations, moving many of the 'larger' operations, and consolidating most everything else. It's about streamlining the entire business by getting as much as possible in one location, and maximizing profit.

If this was political, they wouldn't be shutting down facilities in Utah, Montana, Georgia, and North Carolina; or reducing production in places like Mayfield.

The only reason I suspect they plan to keep minimal production in Illion, is because they just sunk $20+ million into the place. Otherwise, it would be shuttered as well, in order to centralize, socialize, and communize... err... 'streamline' the product lines.

 

[lamarw]

This is actually old news.

You also have Steyr which has moved to Bessemer, Alabama.

Much of the gun industry seems to be moving to the South East.

Huntsville is not a small Alabama town. It is a pretty good size place with a lot of technology base. Red Stone Arsenal (NASA) and the military facility there is huge. The surrounding community is loaded with engineering and support facilities. Much of the old Army Materiel Command and subordinate activities have relocated to the Arsenal.

As Michigan knows, a tremendous amount of the auto industry is already located in Alabama. (Honda, Mercedes, Hyundai and others)

My plane jane R1 has Illion on the slide, and it would be nice to buy one in a couple of years with Huntsville on the slide.

 

[Skans]

New York governor, Andrew Cuomo can try and slough this off as "no big deal", but behind closed doors I can assure you that he and his cabinet are crapping in their shorts as the cancer that destroyed Detroit is now leaving voids in his state.

 

[Armorer-at-Law]

Commentary on the subject in Forbes magazine:

America's Oldest Gun Maker Thumbs Its Nose At A Two-Faced Senator

http://www.forbes.com/sites/frankmi...maker-thumbs-its-nose-at-a-two-faced-senator/

In March of 2011 Senator Schumer put a press release on his website boasting: “Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer joined Remington officials and plant employees to announce that Bushmaster Firearms is relocating a manufacturing facility from Windham, Maine to Ilion, NY, bringing over forty new jobs to Central New York in the process. Schumer has been a long-time supporter of manufacturing at the Remington plant, urging top Army officials to open up competition for the Army’s small arms contracts to other U.S. manufacturers and domestic producers across the country like the Ilion, New York-based Remington. Today, Schumer applauded Remington’s decision to add new jobs to the productive and capable work force already making the factory an economic powerhouse in the Mohawk Valley.”

 

[44 AMP]

Schumer and his political ilk are all in favor of the gun industry(s) in their state, getting GOVERNMENT contracts. It means A) money in their state, which they will take credit for, and B) production capacity going to govt contracts means its NOT going for guns intended for the "great unwashed".

The anti gunners are all fine with the firearms industry when its not selling guns to the public. As long as all the gun go to the govt, and not "on their streets" they are happy.

But let the same maker try to market their product to the populace at large and they become "Merchants of Death"....

it's truly pathetic...

 

[barnbwt]

Is it me, or is a NY State level official bragging over bringing in a paltry 40 jobs hilarious on its face? In Schumer's defense; "Newtown changed everthing" and his endorsement was circa 2011. Hopefully this whole episode is a cautionary tale to those who would make deals with the anti's out of expediency.

"I can assure you that he and his cabinet are crapping in their shorts as the cancer that destroyed Detroit is now leaving voids in his state."
I really and truly believe they really and truly believe it does not matter, because they just primed the state for 'acceptable' industries by driving off Remington. 'Acceptable' not only being not gun-related, but divorced of that ugly heavy manufacturing thing, which is just so passé compared to green and tech industries (which pollute even worse ).

"Much of the gun industry seems to be moving to the South East."
Not just the gun industry; heavy manufacturing in general

TCB

 

[mete]

The business climate in the entire country is terrible with the highest business failure rate we've ever had !! More than one large company has said if they had started today with all the regulations , taxes etc, they wouldn't have succeeded.
NY is very much on the top of the list and the polticians here whine about it but continue to raise taxes and regulations.They can't get the point , blinded by greed .

 

[22-rimfire]

I can assure you that he and his cabinet are crapping in their shorts as the cancer that destroyed Detroit is now leaving voids in his state.

I certainly hope that is the case. NY and CA are headed to the same place and in the meantime, they try to make other state's fit their vision. You see, if all the states are the same, the business would have to move off shore or stay put. This is a big deal for Huntsville economic development. Toyota was the last big manufacturer to open a facility there.