Tremonton La-Z-Boy plant in demand

Jason Perry, executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said Friday that the Box Elder County plant is being targeted by other companies.

While economic development officials tried to keep La-Z-Boy in Utah, "the positive piece of that is there are many businesses that are trying to buy that plant that will hire even more people for their operations there in that particular part of the state of Utah," Perry told the GOED board.

He noted that suppliers of Procter & Gamble and other companies have contacted La-Z-Boy about the facility. "We're going to see someone fill that shop in the very near future," he said.

Procter & Gamble broke ground in May for a plant near Bear River in Box Elder County. The facility will initially employ 300 people and produce Bounty paper towels and Charmin toilet paper.

La-Z-Boy said in April that it would close the Tremonton plant this summer, putting 630 people out of work. The maker of the namesake living-room recliners said the closure of the Utah factory was part of a nationwide reorganization that included moving about 1,200 U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico to reduce costs. The company said at the time that the 675,000-square-foot plant, which opened in 1978, would be sold after it closed. Declining sales moved up the closing date to June 26.

Perry said state officials spoke with La-Z-Boy executives in an attempt to keep the plant operating but came up empty when applying economic-incentive models. "We were not able to give them a number that would save those jobs," Perry said.

E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com

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