[billorites]

Buggy whip alert.

[billorites]

"one of the oldest brands of writing instruments made in the United States. World leaders have used Sheaffer pens in the signing of laws, treaties..."

Moustache wax.

[gcruse]

The UAW shrinks.

[Poohbah]

So, how many Sheaffer pens have YOU bought in the past decade?

[Wally_Kalbacken]

First they came for the pens....

[lilylangtree]

Thanks for the post. I know a person who doesn't use anything but shaeffer pens.

[JoeSixPack1]

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and other officials tried to persuade the French-owned company to keep the plant open and save 115 jobs.

ribbit

[primeval patriot]

Writing Instruments Market Grows Despite Digital Revolution

Sales of writing instruments have remained strong, despite the advancements and growth of popularity of the PC, Internet, PDAs and other such technology.

As reported by the SHOPA (School, Home & Office Products Association) - WIMA (Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association) Flash Report, 2002 saw consumer spending reached $4.5 billion for the U.S. writing instruments market.

The growth rate is approximately 3.7% over 2001's sales figures. Projections for 2003 have an expected growth rate of 5% over 2002.

Pens make up 50% of the market, with sales figures at $2.2 billion. With 25% of the market, markers and highlighters reached $940 million and $200 million, respectively. The rest of the market is made up of pencils (20% at $900 million), refills (4% at $200 million), and pen and pencil sets (1% at $50 million).

snip

________________________________________________________________________

Yep, another obsolete product we shouldn't even bother trying to manufacture. No market for them. Going the way of the carriage and buggy whip.

[BMiles2112]

Interesting. A French company with a plant in the US. France really should have prevented the outsourcing of these jobs from the hardworking French to we American laborers. The French need protectionism.
One thing in this article doesn't really make sense. The article that this was a union plant, that the employees all had 30 yrs experience minimum, and that these production jobs were paying between $12-13/hr? Seems a wee bit low.

[rock58seg]

Yo Willie! You have finally identified some place where a light rail/trolley system is needed. With a certain amount of retraining, these people could operate a light rail system with less loss of money than Houston. With it's smaller population there should also be less train /car owner interaction. Of course if they built it in a field outside of town it would be even better. They would still achieve the same number of riders anyway. But, There would be less damage to their civic infrastructure that way. Thank you for finally coming up with a place that a win/win situation can be acconplished.