FILLMORE
– November 18 -- Reluctantly, Dixie Chopper has temporarily laid off some of
its employees as of Monday.
"The
decision was not an easy decision but it was necessary for the continued
success of the company," Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Bradley M. Craig
said in a prepared statement provided to the Banner Graphic.
"The
doors at Dixie Chopper are open and will remain open," he added.
Dixie
Chopper has every intention of calling back as many of the affected employees
during the beginning of 2014, company officials said
Specific
numbers laid off were not disclosed.
The
layoffs have come as the Dixie Chopper management team, which was put in place
back in June, is reorganizing the company "to ensure a strong financial
position in the marketplace, optimal production levels, reduced overhead costs,
and a streamlined shipping process."
The
new management team is composed of company founder Art Evans as chairman of the
board, Wes Evans as president and chief executive officer (CEO), Jeff Haltom as
vice president, Bradley Craig as CFO and Greg Fernandez as vice president of
administration.
Company
founder Art Evans, who built the first of Dixie Chopper's zero-turning-radius
lawnmowers in an old dairy barn on his parents' property north of Fillmore in
1980, is delighted to let everyone know that the "city slickers are out of
town" and that the company is "getting back to its roots."
Those
roots run deep locally and include producing commercial and residential
zero-turn mowers designed to outlast the competition.
To
date, every Dixie Chopper mower ever built has been assembled in Putnam County
-- either at the longtime factory outside Fillmore or for a short time in the
former Mallory plant in Greencastle that was razed in April 2011, two years
after production was transferred back to Fillmore from that facility.
Meanwhile,
in related news, Dixie Chopper has announced the release of a new stand-on
mower, The Stryker, which was recently unveiled at the Green Industry Expo
(GIE) show in Louisville, Ky.
The
Stryker stand-on received a lot of attention for its durability and
state-of-the-"Art" handling.
Dixie
Chopper plans to begin production on The Stryker stand-on in early spring as
the homegrown Putnam County company focuses on continuing to bring new,
innovative ideas to the marketplace.
No comments:
Post a Comment