This is an assignment that I wrote for the Written Communications Class at WITC.  It outlines the sequence of events that eventually led to the closing of our manufacturing facility.

 

     Vikron, Inc., St Croix Falls, Wisconsin, was formed in 1976 by a privately owned company, Northland Aluminum Products.  Vikron Inc. manufactured magnetic tape heads.  In 1996, the decision was made to sell this company to a large corporation, DRS Inc.  DRS Inc. also bought Nortronics Inc., of Dassel, Minnesota, and MEC Inc., of Plymouth, Minnesota.  They also bought a manufacturing plant in Razlog, Bulgaria.  All these plants produced similar products.  DRS Inc., being a public company, soon decided that these facilities were not profitable enough.  First the Dassel division was closed with the loss of about 50 jobs.  Then the Plymouth division was closed with the loss of more jobs.   Some products of each of these divisions were transferred to the Bulgaria division.  In 2000, the St. Croix Falls and Bulgaria divisions were sold to Michigan Magnetics Inc., another private company.  In 2001, the St. Croix Falls division was closed with the product transferred to Michigan and Bulgaria.  In 2002, the Michigan division is to be closed, with the remainder of the product being transferred to Bulgaria.  The decision in 1996 by Northland Aluminum Inc. to sell Vikron Inc., led to a series of events that resulted in a loss of four manufacturing facilities and almost 200 jobs in the United States.