White River Marine Group, the boat manufacturing division of Bass Pro Shops, has eliminated 176 jobs across three factories including one in northern Arkansas.
According to a statement from Bass Pro Communications posted by Ozarks First, 70 of the employees impacted worked in the Flippin plant with the other job cuts coming at the companies Missouri plants in Bolivar and Lebanon.
The statement went on to say that the layoffs are similar to what other companies in the industry have implemented due to current low demand for marine products and the overall economic condition in the country.
The release also states that over 500 people remain employed at the plant in Flippin.
The complete release from Bass Pro Shops Communications is below:
“Last week, we undertook the difficult task of reducing jobs at our Lebanon, Flippin and Bolivar plants. Similar to others in the marine industry we needed to make adjustments to our operations in response to the current soft demand for marine products and the overall economic climate.
We are grateful for the contributions of these team members and will be supporting them through this transition. Following these changes, we continue to employ nearly 900 skilled craftsmen and women in the Lebanon community, over 500 in Flippin and around 400 in Bolivar.
As the leader in the marine industry, we have strived to deliver unmatched value and performance to our customers and believe that because of this, we have been less impacted than many others in our industry.”