Bonanza for shoe manufacturers.

Three shoe manufacturers were awarded one-year contracts from the US Dept of Defense (DOD) worth over US$42 million, and one may have landed a 5-year, US$100 million contract, reports Caribbean Business (July 18, 2007):

Altama Footwear, which owns Altama Delta in Salinas, was awarded

over US$20.4 million, Wellco Enterprises, which operates Moka Shoe Co. in Aguadilla, was awarded US$15.1 million, and Rocky Shoes &Boots, which owns Lifestyles Inc., in Moca, was awarded US$6.4 million for the manufacture of combat boots. The Phoenix Group, which owns Altama Footwear, also said it won a DOD contract for over US$100, which could mean the US$20 million contract awarded to Altama Footwear could be a five-year contract;

The contracts were awarded to the US-based parent companies, but will impact operations here, since both Wellco and Altama Footwear have no cutting and fitting plants in the US, and Rocky Shoes & Boots has no plant stateside. The awards come at a critical time for these companies, particularly Altama Footwear, which had to lay off employees at its Salinas factory. The DOD contracts are for combat boots destined for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The once-vibrant local footwear-manufacturing segment has declined in recent years due to competition from lower-wage jurisdictions in the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Asia.