CONNEAUT — A Conneaut industry is bucking the economic trend of the past few months, recalling employees and gearing up to handle new business, officials said.
Over the past several weeks, new orders and the arrival of equipment have allowed CSP of Ohio to bring back 49 workers from layoff, said Dave Murtha, director of operations.
“We have been pretty lucky weathering the downturn in the automotive industry so far,” Murtha said. “At the present time, we have 32 employees on lay-off and hope to have them all back soon.”
The company has benefited from two new contracts with the Ford Motor Co. received over the holidays, Murtha said. Those orders allowed CSP to retrieve 16 employees, he said.
A few weeks earlier, 13 automotive orders were moved to Conneaut from another CSP operation in Ohio, Murtha said. To handle those orders, three new presses were installed and another 20 workers were recalled in January to run them, he said.
The plant, which makes fiberglass and reinforced plastic parts, employs 157 people, Murtha said.
CSP’s non-auto clients have also pitched in with orders, Murtha said.
“It has helped that we have diversified over the years and added some commercial business, such as our largest customer, ADA Solutions,” he said. “This has helped us tremendously.”
CSP manufactures plastic forms, installed ahead of sidewalks, that alerts the visually impaired to a walkway ahead, Murtha said.
The Gore Road company, founded in 1969, has operated under a handful of different owners during its four decades. Since the beginning, the company has manufactured parts for the auto industry — and traditionally its success has mirrored any success enjoyed in Detroit.
As a result, when the auto industry pull out of its slump, business for CSP will improve, Murtha said.
“Even if there was a slight increase in (auto) sales, we would feel it here big time,” he said. “If car sales would just pick up slightly, we would be in better shape and we would probably be hiring. We definitely have the business in-house, we just need the economy to turn around.
“Let’s just hope the automotive companies can weather this storm,” Murtha said.
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One plant doing well
Conneaut industry ready to handle new business
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