BROOKS COUNTY — A national downturn in the automotive industry is to blame for the loss of a local manufacturer. Micro Craft, once one of Brooks County’s largest employers, informed its remaining 121 employees on Monday that the plant is closing in September.

“We’re closing due to a decline in sales,” said Plant Manager Bill Patterson. “We studied long and hard on ways to keep this open. It was a very difficult decision because we know the effect on our people.”

Micro Craft, located on U.S. 84, manufactures electrical switches for automobiles, including switches for seat heaters, mirror controls and “anything a driver needs to operate all their accessories,” said Patterson.

The company’s largest customer is General Motors. “When GM announced plans to close their plants in Oklahoma City, Okla. and the Saturn plant at Spring Hill (Tenn.), that was two of our biggest customers. It really hurt us,” he said.

It was just two years ago, in May 2005, that a press conference was held to congratulate the plant’s new owner, Niles U.S.A. Inc., on keeping the Quitman plant open. At that time, it was announced that both Brooks County and the state of Georgia were providing tax incentives along with a One Georgia Authority grant to assist the manufacturer, but according to Patterson, the grant was canceled.

“We know Brooks County and the state were willing to help, and we tried to come up with different scenarios but there was no viable solution to keep it open.”

Patterson said the plant has been gradually downsizing since 2005, when it employed 450. Down to 121 employees, making an average wage of $9 per hour, Micro Craft has offered them the opportunity to relocate to the Niles Wintech facility in Winchester, Ky. “We are encouraging them to apply, and I can see some of them going there.”

When asked if he was relocating to Kentucky, Patterson said, “I don’t know yet, but I’m going to apply,” adding that all employees were treated the same in the closure.

An inner company memo obtained by The Valdosta Daily Times Thursday states that the company notified employees of the “gradual permanent layoffs” in compliance with the Worker Adjustment Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires 60 days advance notice.

Dated March 26, 2007, the notice states, “We will be initiating permanent layoffs at our production plant … the Company regrets having to take these actions but feels it is necessary because of its current business situation. The Company has decided to provide a retention incentive to employees.”

The layoffs will begin June 1, and will continue in two-to-three-week increments in four phases with the final layoff between Sept. 1 -15.

Patterson said the company is providing retention packages to compensate those employees who stay until the end, and Micro Craft is urging other area employers who might be searching for employees to hire the displaced workers. The company is also planning to work with the Department of Labor and host job fairs.

“This is an unfortunate thing. They’ve done a great job, especially in the last two years,” said Patterson.

Niles U.S.A. is headquartered in Novi, Mich., with its international headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. The manufacturing plant located in Novi was consolidated with the Quitman plant in 2005.