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Chattanooga area manufacturers are taking steps to stay open and work through the risks associated with the coronavirus as long as they can safely do so, officials said Wednesday.
At the giant GE Appliances' Roper plant in LaFayette, Georgia, the company plans to operate only one line per shift starting Monday as part of a reduction in its manufacturing operations across its business. The Roper plant, which makes ovens and stoves for the GE Appliance business owned by Haeier, employs about 2,000 workers in LaFayette, Georgia, and earlier this month opened a $32 million logistics center in Crandall, Georgia.
"We are reducing production at many of our facilities and will focus on critical products our country needs," the company said in a statement, adding that changes will last through April 3.
GE Appliances spokeswoman Julie Wood termed the move "a temporary reduction in output." She said Roper would file unemployment insurance claims for affected employees, though she wouldn't say how many workers are involved.
At Southern Champion Tray in Chattanooga, business is holding up so far for the maker of food trays for the restaurant industry, said John Zeiser, the company's CEO.
"It's reasonable to assume that it may [be affected] in the weeks ahead. Restaurants are working on reduced hours. Our goal is meet customer demand. We'll adjust as we go. We'll all get through this together. If we slow down, we'll all slow down together," he said, adding that safety of its more than 700 employees is paramount.
Zeiser said he's expecting to see some drop in demand for food service packaging though an increase in take-home packages.
"The net effect, we don't know," he said.
At McKee Foods Corp. in Collegedale, company spokesman Mike Gloeklerr said the snack cake bakery is trying to keep the flow of food to store shelves.
"We want to keep steady employment as well for those who have chosen to make careers with us at the bakeries," said Gloekler, McKee's corporate communications manager, about the business that employs 3,000 in Hamilton County.
The maker of Little Debbies and other snacks employs about 3,000 workers in Chattanooga and recently announced a nearly $500 million expansion to boost production and meet increased sales demand, Gloekler said.
"We have redundancies built into many of our supplies," Gloekler said. "It's a constantly moving target, and we are flexing as best we can to balance our responsibilities to our employees, our customers and our consumers."
Megan King, CEO of the Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers Association, said that a survey sent to members revealed that companies indicated that local factories are trying to keep operating, though the future operations could depend on both customer demand and employee safety concerns and requirements.
Some companies have cut shift hours, such as from 12 to 10 hours, she said.
"Some are going to swing shifts," King said, adding the employers are moving people around to decrease contact with other workers.
Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant closed for one day on Monday in order to let employees make plans in the wake of local school closings and for sanitizing. But the plant resumed normal operations on Tuesday.
If there are future shut downs, some companies surveyed said that continuing employee pay would depend the situation at the time, she said.
King said that some employers "could support a certain amount of paid leave," though there was a question of how long that could be sustained.
Denise Rice, the manufacturing consultant for the Tennessee Manufacturers Association, said companies are trying to keep running, though smaller manufacturers are more at risk.
She said that maintaining the supply chain is key for companies continuing to operate. Rice added that while an outlook may be favorable today, things are changing rapidly.
Zeiser said Southern Champion Tray has asked many of its employees, especially those who are older, to work from home to bolster safety, when possible. In some departments, up to 60% of employees are working remotely, he said.
"We've purchased laptops so those who can are now able to," Zeiser said.
On the manufacturing side, the company is doing what it can to spread people out, even to the point of doing so at meal times. Also, the company has temporarily shelved its attendance record keeping of employees, he said.
"We're not cutting shifts or the number of hours," the company CEO said, adding it may stagger some shifts to cut congestion at the time clock.
Gloekler said McKee is closely following the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and local health agencies, including increasing cleaning and sanitizing of common contact areas, such as doors and counter surfaces.
Also, he said, McKee has restricted non-essential air travel, job interviews and vendor and visitor visits to its facilities. In addition, Gloekler said, the company has cancelled most in-person meetings and is limiting those not cancelled to maintain social distancing.
"Most importantly, we are trying to keep employees safe by encouraging them to come in if well, stay home if sick and to check in with our Employee Health Services Department if they have traveled out of the country or on cruises, think they may have been exposed to others who are symptomatic or demonstrate symptoms themselves," he said.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.