American Greetings Decision

Pits Greeneville Vs. Mich. City

By DOUGLAS WATSON

Managing Editor

The American Greetings Corporation's plants in this community and in Kalamazoo, Mich., have been thrust into competition by the company's announcement Monday that it may close one or the other plant.

The Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer said it will be conducting "a feasibility study" to consider consolidation of the two plants' operations, "and, if so, where operations should be located.

"The study is expected to be completed and a decision made in early fall 2008. A possible outcome of the study may be the closing of one of the two facilities."

Reacting to that challenge, Randy Harrell, president of the Greene County Partnership, on Tuesday announced that he was appointing a "community action team" to work to keep the local American Greetings plants operating.

The main plant is in Afton, just outside Greeneville, while an auxiliary plant is along Bohannon Avenue in Greeneville.

Harrell said that those he has asked to serve with him on the "community action team" are Greene County Mayor Alan Broyles, Greeneville Mayor Laraine King, GCP Chairman Dru Miller, businessmen Scott Niswonger, Stan Puckett, Terry Leonard, Jerry Fortner and Bob Grubbs, and Michelle Scarborough, an economic development specialist with the state's Department of Economic and Community Development.

The group will have its first meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Greene County Partnership's headquarters, Harrell said.

Look At Kalamazoo Plant

American Greeting's Kalamazoo Plant, according to a company spokesperson, has employment of approximately 275 to 350 employees, depending on the season.

The employees are largely labor union members.

The American Greetings plant has been operating in Kalamazoo since 1999, having previously been used by another company. Its location is in an industrial section of the city of Kalamazoo.

City of Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo is the largest metropolitan area in southwestern Michigan.

The Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce said the city's 2000 population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, was 77,145.

The city lies within Kalamazoo County, with a population in 2007 of 238,603.

Kalamazoo's chamber of commerce said the city's most recent unemployment rate was 5.4 percent.

In comparison, Greene County's May jobless rate was 8.3 percent, which is higher than that in any neighboring county and higher than it was here in any May back through 2002.

Kalamazoo's chamber of commerce says the city "maintains a strong community feeling. The short commutes of a small city combine with easy access to the major metropolitan areas of Detroit and Chicago to equal an exceptional location for living and working.

"Kalamazoo County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in both Michigan and the United States. As a business center, it is within a 600-mile radius of 54 percent of the nation's manufacturing, 48 percent of all retail sales, 54 percent of the nation's business payroll, and 65 percent of Canada's gross national product."

The Kalamazoo chamber lists the American Greetings plant there among the city's major businesses.

Kalamazoo's Name

Many Americans may only know Kalamazoo as that place in Michigan with the funny name, and one that Glenn Miller, the famous band leader, popularized.

According to the Kalamazoo Regional Chamber of Commerce, the name of the city and its county has native American origins, but was "corrupted" by English-speaking settlers. The name is believed to have come from the local Potawatami tribe's expression for "a place with boiling water," which stems from a tribal legend.

The popular song, which is still enjoyed by many, is "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo."