Windham's (Maine) Home of Bushmaster Set to Close. Update

[david86440]

One more business leaving New England.

I was hoping to get a job there if I ever moved back home.

WINDHAM — Bushmaster Firearms International will close its production facility in Windham, which employs 73 people, at the end of March, according to members of Maine's congressional delegation.

"We are deeply concerned about the announced closure of Bushmaster's plant in Windham and the burden it will have on those affected workers, their families and the Windham community," said a prepared statement released today from the offices of Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe.. "The company has provided good jobs to workers in the Windham area, and the facility's closure will be a great economic loss to southern Maine."

Bushmaster and parent company Freedom Group Inc., based in Madison, N.C., did not return phone calls for comment.

Bushmaster makes a host of high-caliber, long-barreled and short-barreled rifles. Bushmaster guns are made from aluminum and advanced carbon fiber, according to the company's website.

Founded in 1973, Bushmaster products are used by police departments and law enforcement agencies, private security firms and the militaries of 50 countries. Bushmaster says its products are used for hunting, recreational and competition shooting and home defense.

Bushmaster made news in August when Windham quarry owner R.J. Grondin & Sons proposed building an indoor firing range on their land to be used for weapons testing by Bushmaster. The proposal followed months of complaints by residents about noise from weapons testing by Bushmaster.

Bushmaster's shooting range at the quarry had a 30-foot-tall berm lined with sand. Machine gun rounds were fired into the berm. For added safety, Grondin built 25-foot-high berms on both sides of the 30-foot wall.

[ske1eter]

Now that's funny..... a statement from Susan Collins and Olympia Snow. They aren't worried about protecting the 2nd A but rather a few jobs!? They're the biggest squishes in the Senate. RINO's at best!

[fullautovalmet76]

I hope the residents there are happy now there will not be anymore noise. I guess it was worth the 79 employees losing their jobs.... 

[tombogan03884]

I hope the residents there are happy now there will not be anymore noise. I guess it was worth the 79 employees losing their jobs....  

Don't be snotty, you don't live there.
Bushmaster was spun off of Saco Defense, along with AR's in .223 & .30 caliber, they also produced M60 and M-2 Machine guns as well as the Mk 19 grenade launchers.
Originally it started when the Govt let a contract to assemble M60's to a muffler manufacturer, Maremont, it grew from there.
The closing has been common knowledge around here even before S&W announced they were moving T/C production out of Rochester.

[twyacht]

According to SHOT Business Journal, they are moving to KY.

I'm sure the "Bluegrass" State, won't mind the noise,....

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

Freedom Group seems to be moving all their various acquisitions out of the North East into the Mid West and South.

[billt]

"Freedom Group" is nothing more than a holding company put together by Cerberus Capitol Management, the owners of Bushmaster. They also closed the companies Lake Havasu City, Arizona plant last year. That plant manufactured it's Carbon 15 Models. Cerberus, (aka Freedom Group), also owns Remington, Marlin, and DPMS, (Panther Arms). What they are doing is what a lot of big holding companies do that gobble up a lot of small, similar companies. They are consolidating production. Some jobs will be lost in some areas, while others will be gained in other locations.

A few companies might even get eliminated in the process. A lot of these companies were not doing very well on their own. Remington was a good example. They were floundering for years in financial limbo, many times in danger of going bankrupt. By consolidation, manufacturing can be made more efficient, as well as more profitable. It's been reported the head guy at Cerberus is a big gun guy who originally is the one who came up with this acquisition plan to purchase a lot of different American gun companies, bundle them together under a single investment name, (Freedom Group), and sell them as a single type of investment. It's a bit like a lot of these investment banks tried to do with the whole mortgage fiasco. The concept was good, but they included too many toxic assets in the "bundle", and a lot of people took the gas pipe on these investments because there was basically too much "garbage", and not enough "good stuff" to offset it.

Freedom Group is operating quite a bit different. By taking poor running firearms companies like Remington, and bundling them up with good running companies like Bushmaster, the growth potential is quite good. The problem is there is a lot of dust kicked up before everything settles down. DPMS is most likely doing a lot of the manufacturing that the Windham, Maine plant was doing for Bushmaster. They don't need 2 like plants so they simply consolidate production. It was no different when Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas, or Lockheed bought out Martin Marietta. They simply try to lower operating costs and at the same time become more efficient by putting as much under one roof as possible.  Bill T.

[tombogan03884]

They also own Blackhawk, and an ammo company, Hornady IIRC.

[BAC]

From their website:

What is Freedom Group ?
We are the world 's leading innovator , designer ,
manufacturer and marketer of firearms,
ammunition and related products for the
hunting , shooting sports , law enforcement and
military markets . As one of the largest
manufacturers in the world of firearms and
ammunition , we have some of the most globally
recognized brands including Remington ®,
Bushmaster ® Firearms, DPMS /Panther Arms ™ ,
Marlin ®, H& R ®, The Parker Gun ™ , EOTAC ™ ,
Mountain Khakis®, Advanced Armament Corp .
®, Dakota Arms® and Barnes ® Bullets .
For more information download the Freedom
Group Brochure .

[billt]

Actually, at a time like this with so much financial uncertainty, this is looking better and better as an investment. Especially for the long term. Somehow "peace and tranquility" doesn't factor into the overall scheme of things. Militarily or domestically. Guns and ammunition always figure well into an equation like that.  Bill T.