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OK Mitt, in 2003, Etch-A-Sketch moved to China after 40 years in Bryan Ohio, USA.
Last edited Wed Mar 21, 2012, 10:28 PM - Edit history (1)
An Ohio Town Is Hard Hit as Leading Industry Moves to Chinahttp://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/world/an-ohio-town-is-hard-hit-as-leading-industry-moves-to-china.html
About a hudred union employees lost their jobs. They had to train their Chinese counterparts before shuttering the plant. It's still called the Ohio Art Company though, to this day. Outfits like Toys R Us, owned by Bain Capital, put such extreme pressure on them to reduce prices that they abandoned Ohio and the United States, like so many other businesses saddled with the debt of a leveraged buyout. OK Mitt - I'm so sorry about your
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.
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.
Now let's talk about insourcing. How lucky can President Obama get?
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