ARLINGTON — The HCI Steel Building Systems production plant near the Arlington Airport will shut down Dec. 12, ending 25 years of manufacturing operations and shedding a workforce of 70 employees.
Its parent company, BlueScope Buildings North America, with U.S. headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., will shift HCI’s production work to other plants in its network. The firm is part of BlueScope Steel Ltd. of Australia, which has operations in 15 countries and employs 12,000.
Spokeswoman Lucinda Grove in Kansas City said employees will receive severance pay according to their years of service and noted the company began providing job counseling and placement information for employees since the announcement was made several weeks ago.
“Four or five have already been hired at our other facilities,” she said, adding that the company is continuing to work with other employees.
At the end of November, the company sponsored a talent fair at the HCI plant so potential employers in the area could interview employees. Many of the positions involved skilled welding and other technology that may be useful to area firms.
“Although we are seeing an improvement in overall BlueScope Buildings’ business volume, the global financial crisis has been a significant challenge for HCI,” said Scott Wilson, operations manager for BlueScope. “This difficult decision was made only after an extensive review. We sincerely and deeply appreciate the contributions made by all our Arlington employees and recognize their service and commitment. This decision is not a negative reflection on their performance.”
Wilson said the closing of HCI and transferring of Arlington work to other BlueScope sites “will enable our other facilities to run closer to full capacity, further lower costs and help us further meet or exceed out customers’ expectations.”
HCI projects in Washington include dozens of steel buildings, including a Boeing 747 hangar, King Nissan in Bellingham, storage facilities, an office building for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and an expansion of the Seattle Seahawks practice stadium.
The Arlington plant’s closure will be felt by local schools. The company donated 30,000 pounds of steel in 2008 to Everett Community College’s welding and fabrication program, for instance, a gift valued at $20,000 that helped 260 students. Enrollment in the college’s welding program doubled between 2004 and 2008. At least a dozen EvCC graduates were employed at HCI in 2008, the last announced figure.
HCI Steel Building Systems was founded as Holden Construction Inc. in Alaska in 1974 to build structures for construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline. Joe Holden and his partner, Lee McDaniel, changed the name to HCI Steel Building Systems Inc. in 1981 and in 1986, the company established its plant in Arlington. It covers three acres of floor space, with an additional seven acres of outside storage.
After generating sales of nearly $40 million in 2007, according to the company’s Web site, HCI sold the business to Butler Manufacturing Co., a subsidiary of BlueScope Steel Ltd. At that time, HCI employed 130 people. Subsequent improvements in equipment and pre-engineered building techniques made the HCI plant the most technologically advanced facility of its kind in North America.
By 2008, however, the supercharged national and global economies began to cool and the declining steel manufacturing market in the United States eventually brought about the decision to close the facility.
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