Good for the Ohio Art Company!

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/world/an-ohio-town-is-hard-hit-as-leading-industry-moves-to-china.html

An Ohio Town Is Hard Hit as Leading Industry Moves to China
By JOSEPH KAHN
Published: December 07, 2003



For 40 years workers in Bryan made Etch A Sketch, a children's drawing toy that has outlasted almost all others, and to a significant extent Etch A Sketch made Bryan.

This town of about 8,000, tucked into the northwestern corner of Ohio, has a tool and die factory, a tire company and a candy maker. But Etch A Sketch, the signature product of the Ohio Art Company, was Bryan's mascot. It marched in Bryan's parades. It was the mayor's calling card and the town's alter ego.

''You tell people you're from Bryan and they look at you blankly,'' said Carolyn Miller, a longtime assembly line worker at Ohio Art. ''You tell them it's the home of Etch A Sketch, and they smile.''

That was true, at least, until a winter day three years ago, a week before Christmas, when Ohio Art executives called representatives of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers Union into head offices and delivered the news. The Etch A Sketch line was moving to Shenzhen, China. About 100 union employees would lose their jobs.

Spangler Candy was as big as Ohio Art in town. The Dum Dum Drum Man marched in parades, too.

I'm glad that Spangler has made the commitment to keep their operations in Bryan. It's helped the town and the workers stay afloat.

People are buying 'em up for campaign events.