Henredon will close by end of year

By Heather Sanders,hsanders@morganton.com
Morganton – Henredon employees found out Thursday the plant will close at the end of the year, putting 521 employees out of work.

President of HDM Furniture Industries Tom Tilley announced the closing to the employees Thursday afternoon.
According to the announcement, most of the products manufactured at the local plant will be outsourced.


Rick Moses has worked at Henredon for about seven years.
He left his job at Caterpillar to work for Henredon, mainly because he has family there and he was getting a pay raise.
Now, he’s not sure what he’ll do. He’s not even sure when he’ll be leaving. His boss told him and his co-workers some of them would leave at the end of November and others at the end of the year.
Moses is not too worried, though. Moses said he’ll probably go back to school. With the degree for machinery he already has, he doesn’t think it will be too hard to find work.
Mike Jackson, president of the Burke County Chamber of Commerce, said it won’t be easy for a lot of people.
There’s not enough industry in the area to support that many employees.
He said some employees may have to leave Morganton.
“It will dramatically affect the local economy,” Jackson said.
Tilley said in the release the company had no choice but to close “if we are to continue to maintain our ability to compete in today’s business environment.”
Employees will receive severance packages if they stay until the plant closes.
If they leave before the closing, employees are not eligible for the severance package.
“We know this news is very disappointing and that it creates a hardship for our employees and their families,” Tilley said.
HDM is made up of the former Henredon Furniture, Drexel Heritage Furniture and Maitland-Smith Furniture and is a subsidiary of Furniture Brands International.