JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Councilwoman Tyrona Clark-Murray said the city will help employees find new jobs and the Anchor Glass site will be considered for future manufacturing companies after it announced it will close.
Clark-Murray, who represents District 9, called the manufacturing plant a “staple in the Woodstock Community for over a century” and that its closing is “unfortunate.”
The councilwoman said in a letter that the Office of Economic Development (OED) contacted Anchor a year ago when the city first heard it was considering closure.
She said the office is working with the Jacksonville Chamber and Career Source to help those affected find new jobs.
“Although the closing is scheduled for February 2025, I am sure the reality of needing to find another income source detracts from the joy of the holiday season,” Clark-Murray said in a letter.
Anchor Glass Container Corporation’s Jacksonville facility is located at 2121 Huron Street on the Northwest side. It’s one of six bottle-making plants in the nation and was established in 1926.
Its customers include the Anheuser-Busch plant on the Northside.
There was a memo given to employees on Monday that read “Effective today, November 18, 2024, the Jacksonville facility of Anchor Glass Container Corporation will idle the operations of tank 3 and shut down the Jacksonville plant.”
Anchor Glass wrote a letter to Mayor Donna Deegan and City Council President Randy White to announce the closure per the Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
“Changing business needs require us to close this facility permanently...the Company officially will close the facility during the 14-day period from February 16, 2025...There are 144 employees who will be affected by the facility closing...,” Anchor Glass said in a letter.
A good portion of the workers were told to go home on the spot but some could transfer to other locations.
Only a few people are working on site.
The memo given to employees partially explains the reason for the closure.
“The unfortunate decision is due to the inability to come to equitable terms with ABI’s Jacksonville Brewery that would have been satisfactory and beneficial to both parties,” the memo read.
People who wanted to be anonymous said the contract with Anheuser-Busch ended in the middle of November.
Employees said they’re not happy especially since this happened right before the holiday season, meaning they’ll lose out on overtime. Some workers said they would come home with a couple thousand dollars after taxes.
A worker who retired in 2010 said the overtime pay was great.
The memo said employees will get paid for the 90-day notification period followed by a severance package based on how long they worked there.
News4JAX reached out to Anchor Glass for a comment and is waiting to hear back.