Plant shifting jobs, operation to Newbern

Durodyne, a maker of specialty hoses for the military and industry, will close its 85,000-square-foot plant by December, reported Arizona Business on Friday.

Forty-five employees are affected in the move. The workers were offered severance packages or the opportunity to move to other Eaton operations.

"All the rest of the operations are east of the Mississippi so this will save the company lots of money for things like the shipping of raw materials," said Joe Mika, managing director of Durodyne.

Dyersburg/Dyer County Chamber of Commerce CEO Allen Hester said he will be meeting this week with Eaton plant manager Dan Hilgenkamp "to offer assistance to Eaton as they prepare to take on this new business."

"It is good to know that Eaton Corp. has confidence in their Newbern plant," said Hester. "It is always a positive for us when our existing facilities can add production, install new equipment or increase jobs."

Durodyne was established in 1975. In 1999 it was sold to Argo-Tech, which was acquired by Eaton in March 2007 for $695 million. Eaton's corporate headquarters are in Cleveland.

Eaton located in Newbern in 2002. The plant employs 187 people.