Lennox Industries plans to build a new plant in Mexico to make air conditioners that’re currently being made in Marshalltown, but it’s unclear whether there will be layoffs at the company’s Marshalltown plant.
Lennox plans to break ground on a new plant in Mexico this year, shifting some production there in 2008. By 2010 all the "Merit" series of air conditioners that’re made by Lennox will be made in Mexico. Lennox executives made the announcement came Friday afternoon.
About a thousand people work at the Lennox plant in Marshalltown and company officials say they plan to continue building Lennox furnaces and the premium line of "Dave Lennox Signature Collection" products in Marshalltown. That’s where the company was founded.
In a prepared statement, the company’s CEO said Marshalltown’s workforce would be involved in the production of the company’s "more complex product lines."
Officials with Marshalltown’s Chamber of Commerce said they did not expect layoffs at the plant. But Congressman Tom Latham expressed "grave concern." Latham said up to 200 positions may be eliminated at the Marshalltown plant as production ramps up at the new plant in Mexico.