Truck bed cover maker Leer Group is closing two of its manufacturing plants in Woodland, California, according to a recent Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter.
The company, which operates the facilities under its former name, Truck Accessories Group, along with its parent company J.B. Poindexter & Co., decided to move its production to its new plant in Mexicali, Mexico, a spokesperson told Manufacturing Dive in an email. The truck cap maker invested over $30 million toward the 220,000-square-foot site with advanced equipment including spray processes and a conveyor system.
“A key objective in our multi-year strategy has been to reinvest in the company to assist our dealers in gaining market share, providing on-time delivery, improving product quality, and being able to offer quick, effective solutions when challenges arise,” the spokesperson said.
Over 200 people will lose their jobs at the two sites and the first round of layoffs will begin Nov. 11. Leer Group is working with Woodland site employees on finding a different position within the company or other opportunities within the community, the spokesperson said.
The Woodland plants aren’t Leer Group’s first California closures. In 2021, the company closed its Long Beach plant and moved production to the Mexicali facility.
Despite the closures and shifting production to Mexico, Leer Group has made recent manufacturing capacity investments in the U.S. In April, the company opened a new commercial aluminum cap manufacturing facility in Elkhart, Indiana. The new plant will serve Leer Group’s commercial and fleet segments, Curt Cline, VP of operations at J.B. Poindexter & Co., said in a statement.
