Heat Treat Industry News
June 25, 2010
West Virginia offers Alcan $10 million loan
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Gov. Joe Manchin pledged Wednesday that the state would lend Alcan Rolled Products $10 million to improve its Ravenswood plant and keep jobs in the region.
The governor's announcement came as nearly 700 union workers prepared to vote today and Friday on a final contract offer from Alcan. Negotiations have lasted nearly a month. Vote totals will be released Saturday.
Manchin said the state's $10 million commitment would help ensure that the plant remains competitive. Alcan has promised to spend $86 million on facility upgrades.
"These combined funds will help ensure that we can compete globally by modernizing the equipment and the facility, thereby positioning Jackson County's top employer for a strong future and the opportunity to provide jobs for many years," Manchin said in a prepared statement.
Manchin said the $10 million loan would include a condition: The debt must be repaid in full if the plant changes ownership.
An Alcan spokesman would not comment on the proposed loan.
Earlier this year, Alcan announced that it plans to sell off its rolled products division, which includes the Ravenswood plant.
Mark Julian, the state Development Office's deputy director, said the West Virginia Economic Development Authority -- with possible assistance from the state Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council -- would likely issue the loan.
Alcan would have to apply for the loan, and the agencies would have to vote to approve it, he said.
"They'd have to meet the criteria everybody else does," Julian said. "This is no special deal."
State officials have been talking with Alcan executives for months about ways to keep the company in Jackson County.
"This is a significant commitment to a facility, which is a crown jewel in the [aluminum] industry," Julian said. "These are quality jobs. It will help the region, the workers and the facility."
Also Wednesday, Alcan released a statement, saying a reorganization proposal included in the company's final contract offer to union workers would not lead to job losses at the Ravenswood plant.
Leaders of United Steelworkers Local 5668 have raised questions about Alcan's "work reorganization" plan in the proposed two-year contract.
"It's been suggested that work reorganization would translate into job losses; it doesn't," Alcan executives said in a prepared statement.
By Eric Eyre, Staff writer - The Charleston Gazette
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