Rosebud Expands into Arctic Cat's Building

Posted on Thursday, September 27, 2007

On the heels of an announcement made Wednesday that Rosebud Manufacturing in Madison will be expanding their kitchen cabinet manufacturing company, comes bad news for those employed by Arctic Cat in Madison. Ninety-five employees of the snowmobile and ATV manufacturer will soon have to decide whether or not to pack their bags and move to Thief River Falls to work at that Arctic Cat plant, or if they should stay in Madison and find another job. Executive Director of the Lake Area Improvement Corporation, Dwaine Chapel says Arctic Cat made the decision because of the lack of snow, and that production has dropped significantly from 250-thousand sleds rolling off the line to just 100-thousand.

Chapel says businesses in Madison will be offered an incentive program, to offer the employers that hire the displaced workers an incentive to go towards training dollars. A similar program was used when May Scofield was shut down in June of 2006. Chapel says the main focus in the coming months will be on the displaced workers from Arctic Cat.

Chapel says even though the closing of Arctic Cat is a setback for those employees as well as the community of Madison, it did open doors for Rosebud Manufacturing who was looking to expand, but did not have the space.

Chapel says negotiations are currently underway to move a retail organization into the location where Rosebud currently sits.

Rosebuds Brian Kern says the expansion into one building will help to improve Rosebuds efficiency. The announcement puts to rest rumors that Rosebud was picking up and moving to Salem, which Kern sees as a positive movement.

Kern expresses remorse for the employees and families of employees who will be out jobs, but he says he hopes the community will see the loss and open up opportunities for those affected.

Kern says Rosebud will look to hire 15 employees as a part of their expansion, some of which could be former Arctic Cat employees who have been displaced.

The closing of Arctic Cat will come in 3-phases. An undefined number of employees will be laid off on November 25th during the first phase of Arctic Cats closing. February 14th a second group of employees will be laid off. The last day that Arctic Cat will be open will be February 7th.

Kern says after the necessary renovations are made, Rosebud hopes to get moved into their new building in late February or early March.

A list of businesses that could be looking to absorb some of the 95 displaced Arctic Cat employees can be found online at http://madisonworks.com/jobs/|madisonworks.com/jobs.