Falling Oak, Up a Creek Without Paddle: Viasystems Closing Oak Creek and Layoffs

Viasystems Milwaukee Group Inc., a maker of PCB and a surprise that it isn't all already shipped out to Taiwan and China, has declared the closure of their Oak Creek facility in Wisconsin, the cheese state, causing 238 layoffs.

It came as a surprise to me that this type of business is still ongoing in America. Even more surprising is that it will still be ongoing even with the recent dollar strength and shipping price reductions. Serving domestic demand with employees in middle America with lowered wages seemed to have had potential with weak dollar, high gas prices, high Baltic Dry Index freight shipping prices, and relatively low wages. Alas, most of those elements turned around.

Viasystems Milwaukee is surprisingly based in St. Louis, Missouri.

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