Beatrice Husqvarna Plant to close

Some bad news coming out of Beatrice tonight, Husqvarna is closing its plant…it comes just a few months after they hired extra workers.

Husqvarna makes lawn mowers, garden tractors, trimmers, outdoor products like that…at the end of last year we actually did a story with them about doubling their workforce…but Thursday we learned they're closing.

It was a normal shift change at the Husqvarna plant in Beatrice, but it was a different tone as cars were coming and going. Thursday around 400 employees were told they're closing its doors and consolidating with a plant in South Carolina. Employees like Luke Vater, a father of 3 got the bad news just before his shift.

“Something was up, I knew because of the way everyone's acting they were uneasy about everything, I thought it was a lay off, that's what I was thinking but a plant shut down, that's new, that got me pretty good,” Vater said.

Here's an inside look of the plant we got back in December when we did a story about them hiring. Lori Warner, President of the Beatrice Chamber of Commerce says she's worried about the effect this will have on the small town and the rest of Gage County.

“It will be a step back for us, I finally felt like we were headed in the right direction, then to have this happen its like again you take 1 step forward and 2 step backs,” Warner said.

The plant which has been in Beatrice since 2004…will be closed by the end of this year. As for workers like Vater, he says he might move back home in order to support his family.

“I'll probably have to start making some phone calls, get some stuff, set up I have a few friends down in Missouri who will put me on jobs if I'm lucky,” Vater said.

Many of the employees there are ones that have worked at other plants, like the Vise Grip plant in DeWitt, which closed its doors a couple years ago.  Employees say it's tough to go through this all over again.