Two local manufacturing plants have announced they're closing. Allied Specialty Vehicles Inc. closed its plant at the former Monaco site in Harrisburg Monday. The plant employed 120 people.
Springfield based Sierra-Pine told the Register Guard it will close its particle board plant in April. That company has 87 employees. Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce President Dave Hauser says the closures are a blow to the local economy.
Hauser: "Those are manufacturing or traded sector jobs that are especially important to the regional economy because those traded sector jobs mean that somebody's producing something here, selling it nationally or internationally, and then bringing wealth back to Lane County, which supports various other sectors of the economy."
Hauser says the region relies on small and medium sized employers like the two that have announced closures. He says it's important for the chamber and local government to support existing businesses and attract new investment in the region.
