Whirlpool to Close Arkansas Operation

Following Whirlpool’s announcement Monday that it will move some of its Fort Smith, Arkansas production to Mexico. Benton Harbor, Michigan-based Whirlpool Corp. outlined earlier this week plans to “strengthen the company’s global operating platform.”

Whirlpool’s Fort Smith plant was the only plant where production losses are expected. Production at seven U.S. Whirlpool plants — Evansville, Ind.; Oxford, Miss.; Clyde, Findlay and Marion, Ohio; Tulsa and LaVergne, Tenn. — will expand.

The extent of the Fort Smith production loss is unknown. Whirlpool spokesman Christopher Wyse said details about potential job losses and the amount of production to be moved from Fort Smith to Mexico will not be released until early 2005. Whirlpool employs about 4,500 people in Fort Smith.

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