Kearney Powermate Portable Generator Plant Closes

Kearney, NE employees have been blind-sided by the closing March 21, 2008 of the Kearney Powermate Corp. plant, that made portable generators, due to bankruptcy. These generators made the difference for many when Katrina and other disasters hit around the country and around the world.

The Powermate Corp. plant has been part of the Kearney community since 1986, twenty-two years. The last few years, as one company bought out another, there have been layoffs and struggles. But few had any idea the Kearney Powermate Corp. plant that supplied portable generators around the world would close and with almost no warning to the community or the employees themselves.

A source close to the situation said employees may well have lost medical and other insurance benefits, as well as insurance that often covered their whole family. The employees may lose the retirement funds they looked forward to receiving. Even the 401Ks may cost money to salvage, money these employees now don't have access to. Then there are the couples with the double whammy since both husband and wife worked at Powermate Corp.

Every disaster around the country, including Katrina, pointed out the need for portable generators when electricity was unreliable or non-existent. Many of these portable generators came from the Powermate Corp. plant in Kearney, NE. Kearney's disaster the winter of 2007 with ice storms that left the whole area without power, some for weeks, caused hundreds, maybe thousands in the Kearney area to purchase Powermate Corp. portable generators.

The closing of the Powermate Corp. plant is a hit for many Kearney area families. It is also a hit for the economy of Kearney as a whole. But there is another problem with the closing of the Powermate Corp. plant that may affect many not just in Kearney, but also the rest of the country. Parts. That's right, parts. Repair parts.