The Lebro Shirt Factory, which in 1985 was a large employer in Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, decided that in order to remain in Lykens, it needed a new factory building; therefore it sought the help of Lykens Borough officials to obtain a site and construct a $1.5 million modern plant. An article in the Harrisburg Patriot, May 19, 1985, described the problem and some proposals for resolution.
During the 1980s, many of the remaining garment factories in the Lykens Valley area had older plants that proved unsatisfactory for modern manufacturing. The owners and operators of those factories sought government assistance in erecting new plants and threatened to leave if they didn’t get that assistance. Leaving meant the loss of a significant number of jobs. At the same time, Southern states were offering “great deals” for these operators to move their operations to areas where there was there was a non-unionized workforce willing to work for lower wages and fewer benefits. This Harrisburg Patriot article provides an example of how one community, Lykens, tried to keep its largest employer.
No follow-up article was found.
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LYKENS ASKED TO HELP SHIRT FIRM FIND QUARTERS
By Dale Raudenbush, Sunday Patriot-News
LYKENS — A two-story concrete block building on Arch Street here has been home to the Lebro Shirt Factory for more than 30 years.
But company officials have told Borough Council that a new building is absolutely essential if Lebro is to continue to do business here.
And council was asked to help find a new site and the funding for the construction of a new plant at an approximate cost of $1.5 million.
A new building, council was told, would not only guarantee keeping the firm with 300 employees in Lykens but would mean an increase of approximately 75 to 100 workers.
Company officials say the building has been remodeled to the limit, and that because of its location, it can’t be enlarged. Parking is also a problem, with many employees having to walk several blocks to work.
At a meeting last week, borough Solicitor Terrence Kerwin briefed council on what the borough has done so far to help Lebro expand and maintain its place of business in the borough.
“The borough,” Kerwin said, “has offered to make available to Lebro Shirt at a minimal cost a tract of borough-owned land just east of the firm’s current facility. And the borough would in the future consider relinquishing control of the land to the firm if circumstances dictated that it would be in the best interest of the borough,” he said.
Kerwin and Borough Council, working with the Dauphin County Economic Development Office, has provided Lebro with several possible sources of funding.
One would be a site-development grant available from the commonwealth. The money would be made available through the Department of Commerce in the form of a grant or low-interest loan, he said.
Funds from a low-interest loan through the Department of Commerce could be used both for site preparation and building construction, Kerwin said.
Another possibility, he said, would be to work with one of the industrial-development authorities that exist in the state and county. These authorities are tax-exempt organizations whose sole purpose is to promote industrial development within the state. Funds are raised through the issuance of tax-free bonds, Kerwin said.
He told council he felt it would be in the best interest of Lebro Shirt to seek funding through the Upper Dauphin County Industrial Development Authority.
“It is my understanding,” he said, that Jack Coma, deputy director of the Dauphin County Economic Development Office, has met with Lebro Shirt officials several times to discuss the programs that might be available to them.”
To utilize any of these programs, Lebro Shirt would be required to make some sort of commitment toward the project, Kerwin said.
“The initial commitment asked of the company would be to supply information about the financial picture of the corporation or partnership that runs Lebro Shirt. Any municipality or authority that works with taxpayer funds would be negligent it it did not request such information.”
“I have informed the company officials,” Kerwin added, “that if the acquisition of such financial information would be a major problem, I would be willing to try and seek other sources of funding that might not require extensive financial information.”
Borough Council will do everything within its power to continue to make the borough of Lykens an attractive place for the Lebro Shirt factory to do business, Kerwin said, “But for now the ball is in their (Lebro Shirt’s) hands. They must decide if they want to move ahead with any of the options we’ve provided them with,” he said.
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Article obtained through the on-line resources of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
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