By Rachel Parker Dickerson
IC Corp.’s parent company, Navistar, told employees Thursday it is ceasing bus production operations at its Conway plant.


Navistar Spokesman Roy Wiley said, “We have to consolidate our bus assembly operations into one facility. It’s driven by market factors.”

He said the economy makes for a “terrible time” for the industry, with school districts not being able to purchase many buses.

“Unfortunately for Conway, Tulsa is a much newer facility,” he continued. “Conway’s been around a long time. It costs a lot more to operate. We still want to have a presence and will have a presence in Conway. It will be a smaller operating footprint. We’ll be fabricating parts for school buses.”

Conway Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Brad Lacy said, “It’s horrible news. I think it’s horrible on a variety of levels. That number of people losing their jobs is a horrible thing. I think emotionally, too, this community has been in bus production since the 1930s, and it was something we identified with our community. When you lose that, you lose a piece of your history.

“I think we just have to regroup, probably next week, and try to assess what employment opportunities may be out there for each of these people. I think it’s important to understand that an employer like them draws people from a wide area. This isn’t just a Conway issue. This is a Morrilton issue and a Heber Springs issue and a Marshall issue. It will have a regional impact.”

The WARN Act requires that plants notify employees in advance of pending mass layoffs. Wiley said up to 477 jobs could be affected by layoffs or separation, but layoffs will not start until Jan. 4. Subsequent layoffs could follow in February and March, depending on circumstances, he said.

“The important thing to remember is we will maintain an operating footprint in Conway. We will be doing something, and they will be working, just on a smaller scale,” Wiley said. “Conway is a good place to be located. We just have to consolidate. The curtailment of jobs is the result of the necessity to consolidate into one operation.”

(Staff writer Rachel Parker Dickerson can be reached by e-mail at rachel.dickerson@thecabin.net or by phone at 505-1277. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit)