Husqvarna announces closure of Nashville plants
(Image by Jonathan Canady)
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – One of the largest employers in southwest Arkansas announced Monday afternoon that they would be closing production by the end of 2024. Husqvarna in Nashville officials told employees the Nashville operations would be closing and consolidating with other company operations.
In an interim report released Tuesday, the company said regarding strategic acceleration as announced in October 2022, “Husqvarna Group is accelerating its strategic transformation towards the value creation areas of robotic mowers, battery, watering and professional solutions…In order to fund these investments and increase organizational efficiency, structural changes are being implemented, which will deliver annual cost savings.”
New CEO Pavel Hajman said, “I am honored to be appointed CEO of Husqvarna Group, and I am fully committed to the continued execution of our successful strategy. We have an exciting journey ahead where we are building a stronger Group by investing in the key focus areas of robotic mowers, battery, watering and solutions for the professional market. With this, we are also driving the transition to sustainable solutions and a lower carbon footprint. We are proactively exiting sales of petrol-powered, low-margin consumer business, primarily wheeled products and rightsizing our Orangeburg manufacturing plant in North America. We are also consolidating our global manufacturing footprint, with the discontinuing of the handheld production facility in Nashville, AR. Accordingly, the Orangeburg, SC manufacturing plant is being rightsized.”
Husqvarna said its electrification ambition aims to “consistently reduce our carbon footprint.”
The following is shared from The Nashville News-Leader’s Louie Graves:
At the original plant and warehouse on S. 4th St. in Nashville and at the former Ox Bodies plant north of Nashville, the loss would be a reported 700-plus jobs. That does not include associated jobs at Mission Plastics, Jan-Eze Plating, and at the Howard County Children’s Center where 79 clients do sub-assemblies for Husqvarna.
A spokesperson at the Children’s Center said Tuesday they had not been not been notified by Husqvarna, but that the center had other contracts to provide work for clients.
On Tuesday morning Nashville Mayor Larry Dunaway and County Judge Brent Pinkerton went to Little Rock to meet with Husqvarna plant manager Steve Harvill and Clint O’Neal of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. The aim of the meeting would be to begin a search for a replacement facility.
A company press release said that the Nashville plant will be ‘consolidated’ into plants in Brazil, China and Orangeburg, S.C.
The press release said that the Swedish-owned company “Will provide transition options for employees and job placement support services.” The release said the consolidation was due to strategy for electrification and robotics, among others criteria.
The company came to Nashville in 1977, moving from Shreveport to a 100,000 sq. ft. facility for manufacturing lightweight gasoline-powered chainsaws and weed trimmers.
There were several expansions over the years including a plastic molding facility north of Nashville and a huge (350,000 sq. foot) warehouse facility attached to the original plant on South 4th St.
The company draws employees from around southwest Arkansas including Hempstead and Nevada Counties.