This one hurts: Silver Line to close Durham plant

Not that there's a good time for this, but five days before Christmas really stinks: Silver Line Building Products will close its Durham-based window manufacturing plant on December 20, according to a mass layoff notice spotted by the Triangle Business Journal and other local press on Wednesday.

Almost 430 workers are expected to be impacted by the shuttering. Silver Line sells windows and patio doors through retailers like Home Depot; the housing crisis, obviously, has cut back demand for their goods.

It's a setback for Durham's attempt to draw middle-class manufacturing jobs. In an era when economic incentives often go to companies looking to bring high-tech, high-touch jobs requiring a strong educational background -- witness last week's aborted attempt to get Bandwidth.com's corporate HQ to the Bull City -- Silver Line represented a big win for Durham civic leaders, which have often trotted out the company as an example of a blue-collar win through economic development and incentives packages.

Silver Line received $200,000 in state and Federal funds with a push from City leaders to open here in 2004.

Comments

[Ross Grady]

So were there no "don't close the factory & lay everybody off" strings attached to that incentive package, or did they just expire already? Either way, I want [a portion] of my money back!

[barry]

Matt Milliken in the HS writes "The plant was initially in line to receive $200,000 in economic incentives from the city of Durham and state of North Carolina, but government officials said Wednesday that Silver Line never received any payouts. "