By JUSTIN ENGEL THE SAGINAW NEWSS
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April 14, 2006 |
Carrollton Township's Michigan Sugar Co. plant might
pass as a ghost town of sorts if not for the
12-person skeleton crew performing maintenance
there.
Today, a breezy howl replaces the hustle and bustle
of crews who once processed 3,200 tons of beets per
day before the company let its 160-plus employees go
last year.
Today, Anthony L. Proton still doesn't have a job.
One year has passed since most of the work force
left the sugar beet factory, a staple in the
Carrollton community for more than 100 years.
"I'm still angry and bitter," said the 47-year-old
Proton, who operated the boiler for two decades
before the April 6, 2005, downsizing. "I'm still
trying to understand why this happened."
He's not alone.
Lights out
Some of the ousted employees have fared better than
Proton, but that doesn't mean the bitter taste has
faded from their tongues.
"I'm still very disappointed that they can take a
company that was in the community for 100 years and
just at the flick of a switch, shut it off," said
Rod G. Butler, a Saginaw Township resident who
worked as an electrician at the site for 16 years.
"It's been devastating for a lot of us."
The 63-year-old considers himself luckier than some
of his former colleagues. He managed to start his
own business, Butler Auctions Service.
Troy A. Mott didn't find work until September, when
he became a conductor for Saginaw Bay Southern
Railroad.
The 44-year-old Saginaw Township resident makes
about $17 per hour compared to the $19 he made at
Michigan Sugar.
"Some of us are more fortunate than others," he
said. "Others haven't gotten back on their feet
yet."
Proton said his options -- much like his savings --
are running out.
"Hopefully, I can get a job this month," said the
lifelong Bridgeport Township resident. "If not, my
wife (Tina Proton, a sugar plant employee for nine
years) and I have discussed having an auction and
leaving the state."
Proton did work a few short-lived odd jobs trucking
and distributing telephone books, which served as
more of a blow to his pride than a source of income.
"I never thought I'd be delivering phone books for
20 cents a book, but you got to do what you got to
do to pay the bills," he said.
He delivered a phone book to the plant he was fired
from months earlier.
At Michigan Sugar, Proton made $19 an hour with full
benefits.
"My unemployment (checks) ran out in November," he
said. "We've lived off what we had in the bank, but
that's disappearing fast."
The thought of his former employer still leaves a
bad taste in his mouth, but Proton misses his
co-workers.
"I tried not to think about it," Proton said. "I
miss my job."
Proton's job misses him in return, said Jeff Frelitz,
one of "The Golden 12" who maintain the site.
"It's just weird that there's only 12 people working
now," the 52-year-old Carrollton resident said.
The fall
A saturated market, mounting energy costs and fear
of more sugar imports under the Central American
Free Trade Agreement forced last year's downsizing,
Michigan Sugar officials say.
The remaining workers keep the site open for storage
and distribution, but sugar beet production is
finished for now.
Carrollton Township Supervisor Marvin C. Kozara said
the revenue vacuum created by the facility's closure
forced township board members to reduce the budget
across the board, but no fatal blow was dealt to any
one item.
"We didn't cancel any projects," he said. "We just
had to rearrange priorities on our existing
projects."
Township board members have had their sights on
demolishing the long-abandoned Mershon School, 410
Stoker, but hits to the budget such as the sugar
beet site's downsizing have delayed the effort.
Treasurer Timothy M. Riley said the site's
downsizing probably had the most significant impact
on the township's road repair plans, pushing back
some of the efforts.
The firings didn't deliver a fatal blow to the
township, Kozara added -- the board lowered water
and sewer rates, along with trash collection fees,
for 2006-07.
While several community members say they've heard
rumors that the plant will re-open someday, company
officials maintain the facility's future is up in
the air.
"There's nothing going on at this time," said Ray
VanDriessche, Michigan Sugar's director of community
and government relations. "There are a number of
options we are studying but nothing is solid at this
point."
Carrollton officials aren't holding their breath for
a resurrection of the community's former primary tax
base.
"If it's not going to be the sugar plant
(re-opening), then we have to find something to take
its place," said Police Chief Craig A. Oatten. "(The
site) was kind of our trademark, like it or not, but
Carrollton is a very resilient community.
"We're blue collar, with a lot of pride. It's a
setback for those involved in the closure, but we
hang pretty tough."
Others aren't quite as optimistic.
Searching for hope
"A lot of houses are up for sale in Carrollton now,"
said Kelly S. Kania, a 24-year-old Carrollton
resident whose father, uncle and cousin's husband
all lost their jobs at the plant last year. "It's
broken up families."
Her father, 51-year-old John Kania, still lives in
town but commutes to Essexville, where he works for
Consumers Energy.
Kania's other two relatives are moving to Traverse
City to find employment.
"I can't imagine the feeling, the devastation of
losing that," said Deb E. Klonowski, the 54-year-old
owner of Carrollton Bar.
Klonowski said the bar's commerce has lightened
considerably since the job slash.
Many of the sugar plant's workers converged at her
bar after they finished their last day on the job.
"My heart broke for those people," the Brant
resident said. "You just have to keep going, keep
your head up and hope for the best."
Some members of the community tried their best to
help the ousted employees rebound.
Carrollton Public Schools Supervisor Craig C.
Douglass pearheaded several resume-making events at
Carrollton High School geared toward helping the
plant's former workers organize portfolios.
"It was a great turnout," said Gina A. Wilson, the
district community education coordinator who
assisted Douglas. "We have a lot of people that have
since found a job."
Some residents have found other silver linings in
the plant's demise.
"At least it smells better out here," said Kania,
referring to the absence of the odor that typically
permeates the township during the sugar beet
production season.
"That's one good thing about this." v
Justin Engel is a staff writer for The Saginaw News.
You may reach him at 776-9716.
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