It’s the end of an era in Tonawanda, New York. After 100 years, the Sumitomo Rubber Tire Plant has closed, leaving 1,550 workers without a job.
This sudden closure shocked the community, raising questions about what went wrong and what was next for the people affected.
Let’s break down why this happened and how the town is rallying to support those hit hardest.
- Sumitomo Rubber announced the immediate closure of its 100-year-old tire plant in Tonawanda, NY, which will affect 1,550 union and salaried workers.
- Despite a $140 million investment in recent years, rising costs and market pressures led to financial losses, prompting the closure.
- Local officials, unions, and businesses are trying to provide resources and reemployment opportunities for affected workers.
A Century Comes to an End
After a century of producing tires, the Sumitomo Rubber plant in Tonawanda, New York, is closing its doors for good.
Since opening in 1923, this factory has been a big part of the local community, providing jobs for 1,550 people and helping to build the economy.
Sumitomo Rubber, a Japanese company, fully owned the plant in 2015 after ending a partnership with Goodyear.
Over the years, running the plant was getting more expensive.
Sumitomo says they couldn’t keep up with rising costs, aging infrastructure, and a competitive tire market.
Despite pumping $140 million into upgrades in recent years, including a whopping $129 million just last year, the losses kept piling up.
The Japanese parent company decided enough was enough, pulled the plug, and is now shifting production elsewhere in its global operations.
The Fallout: Shock, Anger, and Unanswered Questions
When news broke, the reactions were filled with shock, anger, and heartbreak.
Employees shared their outrage online, with one worker bluntly summing it up: “They pissed on our backs without the common courtesy of calling it rain.”
Another worker said they wished they could sleep through this nightmare until 2030. For most, it’s not solely the fact that they lost their jobs; it was more so the way it was done.
Local leaders, like Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, didn’t hold back their disappointment either.
He said the decision seemed to come out of nowhere, with no heads-up for state or local officials.
And that’s despite the fact that the county had backed Sumitomo over the years with tax incentives and other support.
Poloncarz clarified that the company never asked for additional help to stay afloat, leaving everyone blindsided.
And then there’s the union. United Steelworkers Local 135L, which represents many of the workers, is negotiating severance packages, but they’re not happy.
They’ve worked closely with Sumitomo for years, even helping secure investments. Yet they found out about the closure just hours before workers arrived to see barricades at the gates.
Why the Plant Closed
So, why did this plant, with all its history and hard work, have to close?
According to Sumitomo, there were too many problems they couldn’t fix.
Materials were getting more expensive, the factory’s infrastructure was outdated, and the competition in the tire industry kept getting tougher.
The company tried to find a buyer to take over the plant, but no one was interested.
After years of trying to cut costs and improve efficiency, they decided they couldn’t keep losing money and closed the factory.
The global tire market has been shifting, and many companies are moving production to other countries with lower costs.
While Sumitomo plans to move production to other plants worldwide, the closure in Tonawanda will leave a big gap in the local economy.
How Workers and the Community Are Affected
Now, over 1,500 workers have to figure out what’s next.
Many have spent years or even decades working at this plant, and the sudden shutdown leaves them without the stability they’ve relied on for so long.
For the town of Tonawanda, the plant was way more than a workplace.
It supported families, local businesses, and even community events.
Its loss will have a ripple effect, affecting everyone who depends on the jobs and income it provides.
Federal law requires workers to receive 60 days of pay and a year of health insurance, but that doesn’t compensate for the loss of steady jobs.
Many now have to start looking for new work, and that’s not easy in a region where manufacturing jobs have been disappearing for years.
What Is Being Done to Help
Even though the closure is tough, local leaders and businesses are stepping up to help.
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) is already interviewing workers from the plant for open positions.
The New York State Department of Labor has also organized job fairs to connect workers with new opportunities.
Town officials and groups like Workforce Buffalo are also creating resources to make the transition easier.
They’ve launched a website with job listings, training programs, and other tools to help workers find new careers.
Tonawanda’s town supervisor has promised to do everything possible to keep workers in the region and help them find good-paying jobs.
The focus is not just on finding work but also on making sure these families don’t have to uproot their lives to start over elsewhere.
What This Means for the Future
This closure is clearly part of a bigger trend.
Across industries, companies are closing factories and cutting jobs to save money.
Even though Sumitomo reported record profits in 2024, they still decided to close the Tonawanda plant and dissolve their North American operations.
Unfortunately, this isn’t just happening in Tonawanda.
Other companies, such as Michelin, Stellantis, and even Pepsi, have also been cutting jobs and closing facilities.
It’s a sign of the times, as businesses prioritize profits over people.
For the Tonawanda community, the closure is a huge challenge.
But the town has always been strong, and people are coming together to support each other.
With local leaders, businesses, and workers all working hard to move forward, there’s hope that Tonawanda will recover and rebuild from this loss.
While the plant’s closure marks the end of an era, it also shows the resilience of the people who made it what it was.
They may have lost their jobs, but they haven’t lost their determination to keep going.
