06/13/2007

Tubing company to be sold

Sale to Taiwan-based outfit set for July 2

BY SHERI McWHIRTER

smcwhirter@record-eagle.com

VANDERBILT — A longtime manufacturing employer in Otsego County soon will be sold to a Taiwan-based company.

H&H Tube and Manufacturing Co. was founded 77 years ago. It has about 150 workers between a redraw mill for brass and copper tubing in Vanderbilt and a fabrication mill in Cheboygan. The factory will not close and employees will not lose their jobs as part of the company's sale to Sunspring Metal Corp. on July 2, officials said.

"All the current employees are going to be re-hired as employees of Sunspring, so we are focused on business as usual,” said Dan Dreyer, general manager at H&H.

The company produced a variety of brass and copper products over the years for automobile, refrigeration, plumbing, computer, medical supply, musical instrument parts and other industries. The family business was purchased in 1999 by Masco Corp., of Taylor, which recently agreed to sell the operation to the Asian company for an undisclosed sum.

"It is expected that H&H will operate as a division of Sunspring America, Inc., maintaining current supplier relationships and enabling H&H to grow to its full potential,” said Kathleen Vokes, Masco spokeswoman.

Sunspring officials could not be reached for comment.

The sale marks the first manufacturing facility in Otsego County to be owned by a foreign company, said Jeff Ratcliffe, executive director of the Otsego County Economic Alliance. He said it's a sign of a global economy in northern Michigan.

"What we're hopeful for is that they will bring new investment in the facility and hopefully an increase in jobs,” Ratcliffe said.

Sunspring produces similar products to H&H and has one other manufacturing site in the United States, in Kentucky, along with distribution points in California and North Carolina.

H&H is the largest employer in Vanderbilt.

"Every business means a lot to the village,” said Shirley Hawn, village clerk.

Otsego County recently lost hundreds of jobs when Georgia-Pacific closed a particleboard factory there in March 2006 and left more than 200 without work, while other businesses also closed or made layoffs, such as Cooper-Standard. Last month, Kimball Electronics announced plans to close by year's end, costing 216 workers at the Gaylord factory their incomes.