SEKRI buys Lion Apparel

The sale of a nearly 45 year old Williamsburg business last week could mean the creation of up to 100 additional jobs in the coming months.
Southeastern Kentucky Rehabilitation Industries (SEKRI), which is based in Corbin, reached a deal with Lion Apparel Inc. Friday to take over its Whitley County facility, and to retain the clothing manufacturing center’s 85 employees.
SEKRI is a non-profit organization that provides jobs for people with disabilities in addition to employing non-disabled people. The company handles defense contracts to produce military clothing and accessories.
SEKRI Executive Director Tom Fields said talks about his company taking over Lion Apparel’s Williamsburg operation started with a phone call about two months ago when Lion Apparel informed them they needed to close the facility.
“Most of their work has moved out of this country. They really hated to see 80 people put out of work. They were hoping we could work something out to come in and buy the equipment, and retain the labor force. During the next few weeks we were able to put together an arrangement so we were able to do that,” Fields said.
“Our interest is to be able to keep the people working there at the facility. We anticipate adding about 100 people over the next year. We will start hiring there almost immediately.”
Fields said the Williamsburg facility will continue producing products for Lion Apparel on a contract basis, along with adding lines to make camouflage hats for the military.
Another product that will be produced at the Williamsburg facility will be a pouch carried on a soldier’s backpack that includes a tourniquet and a blood clotting agent so the soldier can control bleeding in the case of a severe wound.
“We will continue doing work for Lion Apparel for an indefinite period of time, but the work from Lion will not be of large enough volume to sustain the plant so we are putting these other defense contracts in there,” Fields added.
SEKRI officially took over the plant Monday.
Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison, whose father was once the plant manager at Lion Apparel, said he couldn’t imagine the town without the facility. He admits he was a little concerned when he first learned the plant was up for sale.
“It has been here for so long. The loss of jobs would be very bad for the community,” Harrison noted. “To hear that they are going to keep the current jobs, and create up to 100 additional jobs is real exciting news for the county and the town. Any time we are adding more jobs, it will mean more money for us. It is just great news. I am really thrilled.”
Vicki Smith, vice-president for Channel Marketing Services for Lion Apparel, said the Williamsburg facility used to produce products for two of its marketing groups, but that one group, which made uniforms for groups such as the airline industry, was sold last year.
“We were just doing uniforms for the fire service there. Really we just didn’t have enough work just with that one type of uniform to fill the Williamsburg factory,” Smith said.
“Once we realized that our options were running out here, we approached them,” said Russell Collins, Lion Apparel’s vice-president for manufacturing. “We were able to strike a deal. Fortunately for our employees and for the community of Williamsburg, we were able to manage to save the jobs
Smith added that because Lion Apparel is a family owned business that the decision to sell the Williamsburg facility was a “real emotional struggle”, and more so than it probably would be in a publicly owned company.
“This is a win-win-win situation for everyone involved,” Fields said. “We’re in the business of improving the quality of peoples’ lives. Since 75 percent of our workforce is disabled, we were excited when Lion approached us about the Williamsburg facility. They have a highly skilled staff and state-of-the-art, automated equipment, two absolute essentials for our workforce and for our customers.”
“We are thrilled with SEKRI’s commitment to grow its business with the Lion team in Williamsburg,” says Steve Allison, Senior Vice President, Lion Apparel Protective Systems Group. “SEKRI and Lion worked extremely well as a team to make this wonderful opportunity happen for Williamsburg. It’s astonishing how two groups committed to operational excellence in their respective industries can collaborate to deliver so many solutions.”
Lion Apparel opened the Williamsburg facility in 1959 to manufacture occupational clothing for various industries. Sharply rising costs in the manufacture of goods – particularly those made from expensive, certifiable materials – caused Lion to consider alternate production sources in order to remain competitive in its small niche market providing uniforms for firefighters.
“Our Williamsburg employees are the best in the industry and they’ve contributed so much to Lion Apparel’s success. So our first priority was job placement for each and every one of them,” said Steve Schwartz, President of Lion Apparel, whose grandfather opened the facility. “With our long term relationship and mutual trust with the people of Williamsburg, and our strong core belief in responsible corporate citizenship, we could not just walk away from this facility. We are very happy for their future.”
“I want to thank SEKRI and Lion Apparel for their cooperative work to save the Williamsburg facility and its 85 jobs,” said U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers. “Lion could have just shut the doors and moved on, but they did not. They searched for a new, innovative arrangement that would save jobs for the community. SEKRI is to be congratulated for its leadership in expanding its operations into the Williamsburg plant. This is truly a win/win for SEKRI, the employees, and southeastern Kentucky.”