The cost of abandoning Fort Wayne is rising for Navistar. The company may spend more than $70 million to exit the city.
As the latest word on the cost of its departure is disclosed, the company's removal of its work force is about 90 percent complete, with just 140 employees left on the job here.
Company spokesman Steve Schrier said Thursday that about 300 Navistar workers accepted company offers to relocate to Illinois. Schrier said "with a few rare exceptions, nearly all of the 1,400 Fort Wayne Navistar employees were offered the opportunity to move" to Navistar facilities at Lisle, Ill., or Melrose Park, Ill.
The company has spent $34 million so far to leave Fort Wayne and consolidate more work at its operations in Illinois, according to documents filed this month with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Navistar also reported that it expects the additional “charges” involved in shutting down Fort Wayne operations to range from $30-$40 million through 2013.
The $34 million in charges the company has reported so far include:
•$13 million for “employee termination and related benefits”
•$7 million for “pension and other termination and related benefits”
•$14 million for “employee relocation costs”
A year ago, 800 Navistar workers were employed here. In 2010, when the company announced it would consolidate operations in Lisle, about 1,400 Navistar and contract employees worked for the company here.
The company says its test track and 23 employees will remain here after the rest of the operations are shut down. Its 345,000-square-foot facility at 2911 Meyer Road remains on the market at a price of $4.12 million.
