New Balance will close factory in Norridgewock, consolidate in Skowhegan
File photo / Courtesy, New Balance Inc.
The New Balance factory in Norridgewock will permanently close as the company consolidates the operations at the recently expanded facility in Skowhegan.
New Balance Athletics plans to close its Norridgewock shoe-making factory in the coming months, moving operations there to a newly expanded facility in Skowhegan.
All 230 jobs in Norridgewock will move to the larger site, New Balance spokeswoman Amy Dow told Mainebiz on Wednesday morning. The transition will begin this fall and extend into next spring.
The Skowhegan plant, 6 miles away, currently employs 260 people.
Boston-headquartered New Balance broke ground in June 2023 on a $65 million, 120,000-square-foot expansion of that facility. The build-out is expected to be complete later this year. With the consolidation of the two Somerset County operations, New Balance is referring to the Skowhegan plant as its Central Maine facility.
"Our long-standing commitment to making highly crafted, premium athletic footwear in Maine has never been stronger and this move will strengthen our team’s capabilities and offer significant benefits as a unified and collaborative Central Maine workforce," Dow said in a statement.
"This consolidation allows us to navigate Maine’s workforce climate by increasing our investment in our current associates, and we will continue to hire the right talent for the right jobs to ensure all our associates’ future success."
The company is working with the town of Norridgewock to determine a future use for the factory site, which is on Depot Street.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the town responded to the news.
"There will be some short-term obstacles for our community that we'll overcome in good time. Businesses are certainly an important part of our community, but deep down, it is the people who have built and sustained Norridgewock," the statement read.
"Town officials are already working with our county, state and federal delegations as well as partner organizations to ensure the interruption to our community and our local economy is as minimal as possible."
The Norridgewock plant has turned out New Balance athletic shoes since 1982, after the company purchased the former site of Norrwock Shoe Co.
In addition to its manufacturing facilities in Norridgewock and Skowhegan, New Balance operates a factory in Norway. In total, the company employs about 780 people in Maine.
New Balance is privately held, but had revenues in 2022 of $5.3 billion, according to published reports. The company was founded in 1906.
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