By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jacob@thevillagereporter.com
A Fayette manufacturing facility operated by First Brands Group is expected to permanently close later this winter, a move that could affect 251 employees and have a significant impact on the surrounding community.
According to a WARN Act notice dated December 29, 2025, the company plans to close Eagle Machining, located at 705 North Fayette Street in Fayette. The notice states that the closure process is expected to begin on February 27, 2026, with 248 employees scheduled to be terminated on that date.
Three additional employees are expected to remain temporarily to assist with closure related matters, with one separation listed for March 31, 2026, while the remaining two do not yet have set termination dates. The notice states the closing is expected to be permanent.
The notice explains that the facility has been operating at significantly reduced production levels and that company leadership determined the plant has underperformed over the past year.
According to the filing, First Brands Group cited high operating costs and an unsustainable cost structure as reasons for the decision, stating those factors no longer support continued operations at the Fayette location.
Donald Messer, chairman of United Auto Workers Local 1181, said he learned of the decision while employees were already on Christmas break.
Messer said employees were off until January 5 and that he received a text from the corporate human resources director stating she needed to discuss a critical matter about the plant. Messer said he called her and was told the company had decided to close the plant and would be issuing a WARN Act notice.
Messer said that it was believed that the fastest way to reach as many members as possible was to post the notice on Facebook. He said the company’s bankruptcy proceedings had left workers unsure of what would happen, adding that many did not know what their future would look like before the closure notice was issued.
When asked about community impact, Messer said many workers routinely stop at local stores and restaurants before and after shifts, and he believes Circle K could be among the hardest hit because many employees frequented the location around shift changes.
In an email shared with The Village Reporter, Messer also raised questions about the company’s finances and operations. He referenced First Brands’ bankruptcy proceedings and said public reporting tied to First Brands’ bankruptcy that has described a multi-billion dollar debt load and questions from lenders about billions of dollars that were initially described as unaccounted for.
Messer also said that when Eagle acquired the facility in 2022, the union was told each boxed rotor leaving the plant represented a thirty-dollar profit.
Messer continued and said that, despite claims of an underperforming plant, workers were regularly dealing with a lack of castings to machine on CNC lathes, which he attributed to corporate level decisions and bills not being paid on time.
He said that in 2023, rotors boxed out the door totaled close to four million, and in 2024 he estimated the figure was around 4.5 million.
Based on the profit figure workers were told, Messer questioned what happened to the profits from the Fayette plant. He also stated that records show the company bought the building for three million dollars and that the equipment inside was around five million, and he questioned what First Brands did with the profits connected to the Fayette facility.
An email was also shared that came from David Thimlar, a longtime employee and union officer. Thimlar said he was not authorized to issue an official statement on behalf of the international or regional UAW but said he could speak for himself and noted he has worked at the facility for more than 27 years, since November 1998.
He said that since then, the plant has gone through periods of heavy overtime as well as times when employees struggled to get 40 hours a week, and said that lately it has been the latter, along with rolling layoffs and temporary shutdowns.
Addressing the reasons listed in the WARN Act notice, Thimlar said the notice cited low productivity and high costs as the reason for the decision. He said the biggest factor in the decrease of productivity has been a lack of materials and tooling required to do the work.
He said he does not blame plant level management for that but instead pointed to corporate level decision making. He said foundries and suppliers received late payments and were reluctant to provide product without payment in advance and said it has been difficult to get funds released and bills paid in order to support continuous product flow.
Thimlar said that at times, management assigned up to double the manpower to a production line with little to no product to run. He said the union has also been challenged to get the company to pay for trash pickup as hoppers and bins overflowed at the facility.
Thimlar said he believes mismanagement at the corporate level is the root cause of the issues that led up to the notice of closure. He emphasized that the statement and opinion provided were his own and not an official statement or position of the UAW as a whole.
The WARN notice encourages affected employees to contact the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services for information on unemployment benefits, job training funding, resume writing, interview preparation, and hiring events.
The Village Reporter contacted both Darla Williamson, Regional Human Resources Manager, and Sabreen Rahhal, Director of Human Resources, as listed on the WARN notice released by First Brands Group.
Both repeatedly refused to confirm or deny the information contained in the notice at the time of contact. During the call, Williamson stated that if it were her, she would contact the individual who uploaded the notice on social media, before ending the conversation.