Posted Nov. 16, 2002 Shallbetter lays off 30 workers

Second layoff for company this year

By Nick Sargent of the Northwestern

Hit hard by an industry-wide slump, Shallbetter, Inc. of Oshkosh laid off approximately 30 employees from its office and productions staff on Thursday.

The switchgear manufacturer has witnessed a significant downturn in its business caused by a three-pronged problem that forced the company to cut back its staff to approximately 60 employees, said Greg Shallbetter, the company’s chief executive officer.

The economic downturn caused by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks combined with an excess of inventory in the marketplace due to Y2K preparations and the dot-com bust from a few years ago have contributed to a drastic downturn in business.

“I’ve been in this industry for 25 years,” Shallbetter said. “Even back to oil crisis of ’73 and the high interest rates of the early 1980s, this is the worst I’ve seen.

“I feel extremely bad having to put people out on street especially during this economy. We all hope things start turning around.”

This is the second layoff this year for Shallbetter. In January, they trimmed their work force by 14 percent or about 18 workers, according to state data.

Shallbetter said the industry is one of the last to feel an economic downturn and one of the last to recover. So even though they were doing well most of 2001, the company has fallen on harder times recently. Shallbetter noted, however, the company has shown some positive signs of recovery.

“We see it stabilizing. We don’t see it getting worse,” he said. He tempered that by adding, “We don’t anticipate 2003 to be banner year.”

Oshkosh’s industrial development corporation Chamco will continue to work with Shallbetter to help the company recover from its current economic condition, said Executive Director Doug Pearson.

Northwestern

-- Anonymous, November 17, 2002