Illinois Paper Offers Remarkable Series on Local Plant Closing

For many, the image of Maytag has long been the lonely repairman in their TV ads, stuck in his office with little to do because the company's appliances are so reliable they need few repairs.

But in Galesburg, Ill., where the local Maytag plant dates back more than 50 years, the company's image is one of loss -- job loss -- due to its looming shutdown, which will eliminate some 1,600 jobs when it is completed.

Publishers of the local newspaper, The Register-Mail, sought to reflect that loss with a special four-part series that began Sept. 15 detailing the stories behind those losing jobs, the plant's history in town, and the employment future of the area.

But the true image of the story came out in the ambitious four-page wrap that ran with the first installment of the series. The wrap offered a front-page photo of 15-year Maytag employee Diane Guldenzopf, which was formed from smaller images of 134 other Maytag employees, all slated for layoffs. The remainder of the page listed many of the laid-off employees' names.

"The goal was to literally put more of a face on the Maytag closing," said Publisher Don Cooper, who has run the paper for 14 years.

The plant shutdown was announced two years ago and has already resulted in the loss of 600 jobs, according to Editor Tom Martin. But the largest single cutback -- of 800 workers -- occurred this week when the site ceased production, leaving only 200 on the job until February, when they will be let go and the plant will completely close.

"It is one of the biggest stories that the newspaper is ever going to handle," Martin said about the 14,000-daily circulation paper. "They have made refrigerators here for 50 years (under different manufacturers), and it is the end of an era."

With a 20-person news staff and seven reporters, Martin said the series required nearly every editorial employee's help at one point or another. "I pulled a couple of guys out of the sports department, too," Martin said. "I tried to take all of the talents that exist here for this package."

Editors and photographers began gathering photos of workers for the Page One image during a rally following a local Labor Day parade on Sept. 4. Others were photographed on four occasions at a nearby union gathering hall, editors said.

"We wanted to do something that had the impact the story deserved," Martin said about the Page One image. "People can see those faces, see that they are real people losing their jobs. It does what we can't do with words." He said reaction had been positive, with only a few calls, including "someone who said it made them cry."

Editors used a simple computer software program to form the large photo from the smaller images, using some of the thumbnail pictures more than once to get the best image.

The Register-Mail bumped up its Sept. 15 press run by about 20% in Galesburg, Martin said. Cooper said single copy sales for that day rose from an average of 1,600 to 2,191. The extra cost for the wrap, which was printed on heavier stock white paper, was about $500. No ads ran in the wrap.

The plant's past dates back to 1950 when it began making refrigerators for Admiral with 500 employees, eventually reaching a high of 5,000 workers in 1974. Through a series of sales and mergers, the operation ended up under Maytag's control in 1986.

The closing came about after Maytag decided the plant was not "competitively viable" two years ago, choosing to discontinue production of the three refrigerator models in Galesburg. All three models will continue to be produced, Martin said, but in other plants in Iowa, Mexico, and South Korea.