Another US tannery closes its doors
Having halted production a week earlier, Midwest Tanning Co. closed the doors of its South Milwaukee tannery on June 29, ending sixty year’s production at the Davis Avenue plant.
As well as producing leather for military and industrial gloves, Midwest Tanning manufactured fashion and utility glove leathers. Ironically, the company’s operations will be consolidated with those of a business whose assets it purchased in 1996, Paul Flagg Leather Co., of Sheboygan. Specialising in the production of leather for the footwear, glove and specialty markets, the latter company opened a new production operation in Mexico last year.
However, it is understood that no production from Midwest Tanning will be transferred there. The parent group to both companies is Midwest Leather Company - a company that is in turn owned by Illinois-based Wells Lamont Corporation.
According to local press reports, the local employment centre is helping the 42 workers made redundant by the closure with retraining and finding new jobs.
The shutdown is the latest in a series to hit the local tanning sector, which was once one of Massachusetts’s most dominant industries. The continuing transfer of production overseas - to Mexico and the Far East especially – has seen the demise of some of the area's best known names in recent years.
In June, Blackhawk Leather Ltd. ceased production at its Milwaukee facility with the loss of 56 jobs. Blackhawk had been a main competitor of A.L. Gebhardt, which closed its Milwaukee plant last year. Milwaukee's oldest tannery, Pfister & Vogel also closed last year with the loss of 600 jobs.
Production is being transferred to Mexico because of reduced labour costs and because the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) allows finished goods to be shipped back to the United States without paying tariffs
