May 19, 2013
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Sea Ray is closing their Knoxville plant at the end of the year.
The boat manufacturer is shifting some operations over seas.
Sea Ray's parent company Brunswick Boat Goup confirms that they are "repositioning" operations.
Which means changing production of their cruiser style boats. Moving their Bayliner Cruiser production, mainly to Brazil and moving their Sea Ray cruiser production to Vonore TN and Florida.
That means production at their Knoxville plant will stop at the end of the year.
Its a move that will cost 225 jobs and will help save the company between 10 and 12 million bucks.
They say the decision was fueled, among other things, by lack of cruiser sales.
Some employees have been told they can work temprorarily in Vonore or their Florida plants as they shift production from Knoxville to those two out of town locations.
We talked to Gary Johnson a 28 year employee who is crushed by the news and will now try eary retirement.
"What am I going to do?" Johnson told us just two hours after hearing the news, "with the economy the way it is, everybody owes something. What am I going to do?"
Sea Rray previously furloughed around 300 employees in 2009, which caused rumors that the company was folding.
