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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Bernalillo Gypsum Plant Closes
By Rosalie Rayburn
Journal Staff Writer
Motorists zooming past Bernalillo on Interstate 25 will no longer see the signature plume rising from the American Gypsum plant.
Demand for the wallboard it has been producing for 20 years has slumped along with the nationwide downturn in home construction.
American Gypsum's parent company, Eagle Materials of Dallas, announced the planned closure last month, saying it needed to cut back production capacity. It is keeping its plant at 4600 Paseo del Norte in Albuquerque open.
It's not clear how long the plant will remain shuttered. For now, the company can produce enough from its Albuquerque plant to meet demand, a company spokesman said this week.
Of the Bernalillo plant's 70 employees, 46 have been transferred to jobs at the Albuquerque location; some were laid off. A skeleton staff remains at Bernalillo to maintain the equipment, he said.
Bernalillo Mayor Patricia Chávez said the plant closure would hurt the small town's economy.
"This will certainly impact local businesses," Chávez said.
The fate of the Bernalillo plant is not unusual. Home Builders Association of New Mexico executive director Jim Folkman said companies involved in construction materials such as wallboard, concrete and lumber typically reduce or increase production levels to match the needs of the industry.
"It's just a reflection of the market," Folkman said. "Every time we have a downturn, we've seen them scale back."
When it opened in 1990, the plant was under the corporate umbrella of national homebuilder Centex Corp. At the time, then-plant manager Ray Barnes said hiring "as many local residents as possible is one of our commitments to the community."
The company contributed to numerous Bernalillo causes, including the Wine Festival Park and local schools.
In 2000, the Sandoval County Commission presented Centex American Gypsum a Community Partners Award for its service to the community.
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