Reaction to Smith & Wesson move focuses on helping workers

Date: 10/7/2021

SPRINGFIELD – Reactions to the announcement that Smith & Wesson’s plans to move 550 jobs as well as its corporate headquarters from the Springfield have been mixed.

Some elected officials were quick to comment about how they would work to assist those employees who may not want to transfer to the new facility in Maryville, TV when its opens.

While others, such as Gov. Charlie Baker and Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren, have not yet commented about the economic impact.

State Sens. Eric Lesser and Adam Gomez were among the first to address the issue. Gomez noted in a statement, “It’s very unfortunate that Smith & Wesson chose to announce their decision to move to Tennessee, citing recent legislation pending at the State House, without reaching out to local legislative offices or sitting down with community leaders. I have always believed that people come before profit, and I hope that Smith & Wesson’s decision was not based in part on Massachusetts minimum wage being approximately $7 above that of Tennessee’s $7.25 an hour. I am troubled by the approximately 550 people who will be losing their jobs as a result of this move, especially during such a tumultuous economic time with the COVID-19 pandemic. I invite anyone struggling to find employment because of Smith & Wesson’s decision to contact my District Team so we can help connect you with resources in the community.”

Lesser said, “Regardless of one’s personal views on gun control, this move is bad news for the hundreds of families who will lose stable, well-paying jobs. Looking forward, I’ve already begun conversations with relevant public and private sector leaders about suitable reuse of the space and ways to assist the 550 impacted employees through training, job placement, and other means. It is my hope that the location remains vibrant and in keeping with the proud manufacturing tradition of our region.”

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno said, “I want to reassure these workers and their families that my Administration will do whatever we can to provide assistance during this transition period. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Again, I want to deeply thank and acknowledge MassHire and DFF, a local precision machine manufacturing company, for offering to collaborate and facilitate assistances for these skilled workers. Chief Development Officer Tim Sheehan, Human Resource and Labor Relations Director Attorney William Mahoney and I will continue to work with all of our local and regional partners to offer any workforce placement assistance and/or retraining aspects.”

Sarno’s office noted DFF Corporation in Agawam has offered to provide assistance to help facilitate a job fair for those workers.

“My Administration will continue to work with Governor Charlie Baker, Lt. Governor Karyn Polito, MassHire Executive Director Dave Cruise, Smith & Wesson President and CEO Mark Smith and our state Legislature so that not only are these 550 employees offered a fair opportunity that is best for their families but just as important, we will continue to work with Smith & Wesson to retain the 1,000 remaining jobs here in Springfield,” Sarno added.

In a statement released on Sept. 30, Mark Smith, president and CEO of Smith & Wesson, said, “This has been an extremely difficult and emotional decision for us, but after an exhaustive and thorough analysis, for the continued health and strength of our iconic company, we feel that we have been left with no other alternative.” He specifically cited legislation recently proposed in Massachusetts that, if enacted, would prohibit the company from manufacturing certain firearms in the state. “These bills would prevent Smith & Wesson from manufacturing firearms that are legal in almost every state in America and that are safely used by tens of millions of law-abiding citizens every day exercising their Constitutional 2nd Amendment rights, protecting themselves and their families, and enjoying the shooting sports. While we are hopeful that this arbitrary and damaging legislation will be defeated in this session, these products made up over 60 percent of our revenue last year, and the unfortunate likelihood that such restrictions would be raised again led to a review of the best path forward for Smith & Wesson.”

House Bill 4192 filed in April reads, “No person shall, within the commonwealth, manufacture or cause to be manufactured, partially or completely, any assault weapon or large capacity feeding device as defined in section 121 of chapter 140 of the General Laws. This prohibition shall not apply to weapons or devices manufactured by a licensed manufacturer solely for the purpose of the lawful sale to an authorized law enforcement or military agency of the commonwealth, any other state, the United States, or a foreign government approved by the United States State Department. Whoever violates this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than $1,000 nor more than $1,000,000 or by imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than ten years, or by both such fine and imprisonment.”

The bill is in the Public Safety Committee

“For Smith & Wesson to cite this legislation as a reason for moving jobs from their Springfield facility is a politically convenient and disingenuous Trojan horse, when in fact they are also moving jobs from Connecticut and Missouri,” Decker and Rep. Frank Moran said in a joint statement reported by State House News. The story noted, “They added, ‘Even if our bill were to become law, Smith & Wesson would still be able to manufacture these weapons in Massachusetts for military and law enforcement use. These weapons were designed for military use.’”

The company emphasized that the move will not begin until 2023 and will not have an impact on employees’ jobs until then. “Our loyal employees are the reason for our success and are always our number one priority. We are deeply saddened by the impact that this difficult decision will have on so many of our dedicated employees, but in order to preserve future jobs and for the viability of our business in the long term, we are left with no choice but to relocate these functions to a state that does not propose burdensome restrictions on our company.” Smith said. “We are making this announcement now to ensure that each employee has the time to make the decision that is right for them and their families. We are firmly committed to working on an individual level with each and every one of those who will be affected. We will assist any affected employee who is willing and able to move with financial and logistical relocation assistance. However, we also fully realize that this is simply not feasible for some. Therefore, for any affected employee who cannot move with us, we will offer enhanced severance and job placement services. We understand that this announcement will be very difficult for our employees, and we will do everything we can to assist them during this transition,” Smith said. All employees whose jobs are moved will be given these offers.

A story written by Andrew Jones in the Sept. 30th edition of The Daily News covering Maryville, TN, the location of the new Smith & Wesson facility, it was noted the new Smith & Wesson facility represents a $125 million investment.

Blount County, TN has been encouraging industries such as Smith & Wesson to move there. Jones reported, “Economic development leaders have been trying to recruit a firearms manufacturer to the area for years. Two ammunition/firearm manufacturing deals brokered by the Blount Partnership were announced in recent years but fell through. Advanced Munitions International (AMI) was going to build its $553 million ‘global headquarters’ at Partnership Park North. That facility was supposed to open in 2018.

“It never happened. AMI missed its October 2017 groundbreaking deadline and the project went offline.

“More recently, pistol-maker SCCY in 2020 reneged on plans to establish manufacturing facilities off Big Springs Road in Maryville.

“Praised by numerous local economic leaders, state legislators and city mayors, the Smith & Wesson project appears much more of a done deal, with a ground-breaking set for late October.”

One organization that supports gun control legislation in the Commonwealth was not shocked by the announcement.

“We’re not surprised by the news that Smith and Wesson is moving to Tennessee,” said John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence. “A review of the company’s manufacturing data reported to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, indicated that 98 percent of the firearms they manufactured in 2019 were manufactured out of state already. It is clear that Smith and Wesson is no longer the company that it was when it was founded in 1852 and has no interest in operating in a state that puts the public safety of their citizens ahead of unfettered access to deadly weapons designed for war.

“Smith and Wesson used to be a leader on child safety and gun owner responsibility. That changed 20 years ago when they sold to a private equity firm and began to focus their business on the sale of the most dangerous weapons available in the civilian market including military style assault weapons designed to outgun law enforcement and injure and kill as many people as possible without having to reload.

“Other than for police, we have banned these deadly military style assault weapons in Massachusetts. This is one of the critical reasons that urban Massachusetts has the lowest gun death rate, the lowest cost of gun violence and has effectively reduced the rate of gun deaths by 40 percent in the Commonwealth since 1994. We are disappointed that Smith and Wesson is continuing to move jobs out of the Commonwealth rather than keep making military style weapons for the military and law enforcement. Once again, Smith and Wesson is prioritizing profits and the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction for civilian use vs. for police and the military. Thereby, once again choosing cost cutting over people and public safety.”