Saint-Tite is losing a flagship of its economy with the closure of Entreprises AM, a door and window manufacturer, scheduled for June 30.
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On the next day [jeudi] of the announcement of the closure, the employees take some time to digest the news.
Labor shortages, lack of new workers and a difficult economic climate led to the closure.
“A lot of investment in the business had to take place. Once all this is taken into account, the business risk is calculated. It broke our hearts for our customers, whom we had loved for 50 years,” said the company’s general manager, Michaël Allaire.
It’s also a hard blow for the employees. They will be 26 to lose their jobs. However, their employer put them in contact with an external human resources firm to facilitate the job search.
The Mayor of Saint-Tite expressed regret that her town lost a long-established family business. “[…] This company had been established for 50 years, so quite a loss for us, but we understand the issues.
[…] It’s a page of history that is turning,” said Annie Pronovost.
Customers are also worried. However, Les Entreprises AM has promised that all contracts will be honoured, as well as after-sales guarantees.
Beyond that, buyers also lose local and human service.
“We had an exclusive agreement with Entreprises AM for the entire territory of Haute-Mauricie. In terms of delivery, once again, it was easier for us, so it’s a lot of things like that that we’re probably going to have trouble finding with another supplier,” explained the president and CEO of Villeneuve & Son Construction in La Tuque, Charles Villeneuve. The installations, for their part, have already found takers.
The company Machineries Pronovost will buy the establishment, as well as part of the facilities. The goal is to maximize space in the current factory to produce more snowblowers.
“It allows us to better regulate our production, I will put it like that. In the factory that you see now, what it will allow us here is to assemble only snowblowers,” added the CEO of Machineries Pronovost, Donald Michaud.
This will also make it possible to repatriate the manufacture of agricultural products which is currently carried out by a subcontractor.
The Pierre Naud doors and windows division will also buy back part of the equipment.