DTR Industries, Inc. has announced that it is reducing personnel at its plant in Bluffton, Ohio, but will be maintaining its present employment levels at its big plant here and its plant in Tazewell.

The DTR Tennessee plant in Midway is Greene County's largest industrial employer.

Local DTR executives said the decision by DTR's top management is an expression of confidence in the Midway plant, which currently employs 850 people, and in the the DTR plant in Tazewell, which has 450 employees and is overseen by DTR executives here.

The DTR corporate announcement released this morning said that, while the number of employees at the Ohio plant will be reduced, "The effect to DTR Tennessee, Inc., with plants located in Midway, Tenn., and Tazewell, Tenn., will be negligible.

"Midway will receive some different hose business and will transfer some production to other TRI locations.

"The Tazewell plant currently produces only AV (anti-vibration) products and will not be affected."

The Midway plant opened in 1997, and the Tazewell plant in Claiborne County began operations in 2004.

Shigehiro Okada, president and CEO of DTR Industries, Inc., announced that the DTR plant in Ohio near Cleveland "will become an all-anti-vibration rubber products plant over the course of the next 12 to 18 months as a result of a strategic decision made by the board of directors of Tokai Rubber Industries, LTD (TRI) in response to worldwide economic conditions."

The company's announcement said, "Currently, the Bluffton plant manufactures rubber and plastic hose parts in addition to the AV parts. The decision means that the manufacture of hose and plastic products will be moved to other locations owned by Tokai Rubber Industries, LTD....

"The number of associates affected (in Ohio) is uncertain at this point in time, depending on the transfer of these parts and the recovery of the automobile industry."

DTR Industries, Inc., has been a manufacturer of parts for original equipment manufacturers in Bluffton since 1988.

TRI's statement said, "The economic recession of 2008-09 and its devastating effect on the auto industry has had a severe impact on their total business, necessitating the closing of a plant in Okayama, Japan; the transfer of rubber products from Japanese to Chinese plants, and many other cost-cutting measures.

"North American auto sales have fallen from a high of almost 17 million units in 2007 to a projected low of 9.7 million units in 2009.

Randy Rumbley, DTR's senior vice president of manufacturing at the Midway plant, said that because of the negative situation in the auto industry, "Our business (at the Midway plant) is off 30 to 40 percent."

The local DTR plant's main customers are Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Ford, Rumbley said.

Greene County Mayor Alan Broyles and Greeneville Mayor Laraine King, who were briefed by DTR executives before this morning's announcement, both said they are very appreciative of the local DTR plant and of all its workers.

The two mayors added that, although today's announcement is not good news for DTR generally, it shows how highly DTR's top executives regard the Midway plant.

Greene County Partnership President Randy Harrell said he appreciates that DTR Industries didn't force the Midway plant to compete against the company's Ohio plant to stay open.

DTR managers held meetings throughout Thursday with employees at the company's plants in Midway and Tazewell to inform them of the situation, and to assure them that no one in Tennessee would be losing his/her job because of the cutback at DTR's Ohio plant.