ATC Panels is seeking investors to help reopen its particleboard plant in Franklin, Virginia, according to media reports.
The Tidewater News in Franklin reports that ATC was trying to find an investor group to reopen the plant.
Company spokesperson Rodolfo Salman said producing raw particleboard was no longer profitable and that a more successful business model was to locate a furniture manufacturing plant near to the particleboard plant to avoid freight costs.
The United Steelworkers has been in a dispute with ATC Panels’ Chilean owner Aconcagua Holdings since 2004, with the union arguing that the company is obliged to pay severance pay because the plant is closed, but Aconcagua maintaining the facility is temporarily idled.
