Whirlpool has announced the former Ottawa W.C. Wood freezer manufacturing site will become an official Whirlpool factory, starting May 3rd with 190 full-time employees.
Whirlpool bought the factory and some inventory in December after W.C. Wood filed for bankruptcy protection and ceased production in October.
Whirlpool is giving hiring priority to former W.C. Wood employees. Additional workers will be contacted in phases, as necessary, based on customer orders.
The Ottawa factory employed 150 when W.C. Wood closed last fall.
Meanwhile, more than 450 jobs are being eliminated as Whirlpool ends a production shift at an Evansville factory that is being shut down in June.
Union officials say Friday was the last day for 465 workers at the plant. Whirlpool announced last year that it would shut down the 1,100-worker refrigerator factory and move production to Mexico.
A few dozen union members held protest signs in the rain Thursday along U.S. 41 outside the plant. Worker Danny Rowe said he hoped their presence reminded others about the number of jobs leaving the country.
Some 1,500 people joined the AFL-CIO national president in an Evansville march last month protesting the factory-closing decision by Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool.