Lawmakers want answers about future of Avonmore’s Akers plant
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State lawmakers who represent Avonmore said Monday they are concerned that the new owners of the Akers National Roll plant haven’t been more forthcoming about their plans for the site.
“Documentation shows that the plant was sold, but we are unsure who the new owners are and what they ultimately intend to do with the facility,” state Sen. Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, said in a news release.
In May, Ampco-Pittsburgh announced it was selling the plant to an affiliate company of WHEMCO Inc. Pittman said in the release that paperwork filed with the Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds in September showed ownership of the plant was transferred from Akers National Roll Co. to Georgia Financial XIII LLC for $703,676.
The new owners could not be reached for comment. Ampco-Pittsburgh did not immediately return a message.
“So far, attempts to contact all of the parties involved have been unsuccessful, which has intensified the concerns in the community,” Pittman said.
At its peak, nearly 90% of the borough’s working-age residents worked at the mill, Mayor Paula Jones told the Tribune-Review in May. That had dipped to about 40% in recent years, she said.
More than 100 people had been working at the plant when it closed between July 30 and Sept. 30, according to a filing with the state Department of Labor and Industry.
“The lack of response from the company is very frustrating,” said state Rep. Joe Petrarca, D-Washington Township. “The closure impacted many families, and it has been a major economic jolt to Avonmore. We had hoped that the parties involved would be open about the process and their eventual plans for the site.”
The lawmakers, along with Westmoreland County commissioners and Avonmore Council President Donna Jean Ventresco, wrote a letter to WHEMCO President Charles Novelli in August inquiring about the future of the plant. Their letter received no response, Pittman and Petrarca said.