tool name

Thursday, Jul. 31, 2008

Certified Tool and Die to close Frankfort plant, one in Illinois

About 100 workers in Frankfort are losing their jobs as auto parts manufacturer Certified Tool and Die closes its headquarters.

A victim of the turbulence in the auto industry, Certified Tool and Die has been laying off employees since the end of June and has laid off 85 percent to 90 percent of its workers.

Operations will close by Aug. 15.

The company was unable to recover from the strike between the United Auto Workers and supplier American Axle, said Corporate Human Resources & Safety Manager Jackie Weeks in an e-mail.

The strike “put us in a perilous situation with little ability to pay our vendors on a timely basis or to obtain steel and other supplies when needed,” Weeks wrote. The company's Illinois plant is also closing.

The plant makes stamping, injection moldings and assemblies for several industries including automotive and farm equipment. It was founded in 1954. The Frankfort facility was built in 1996. The company had an “annual revenue in excess of $26 million” and had more than 70 customers, according to its Web site.