WAKARUSA – Good news for Wakarusa.
Last year, Utilimaster announced plans to relocate to Bristol, but another large RV company will take over most of the old Wakarusa plant.
The 95-acre site takes in about 54,000 square feet of space, 16 buildings to be exact.
“It was a concern of ours on how the property is going to be marketed and what type of businesses could we get into the property,” said Town Manager Jeff Troxel.
But Troxel’s concern and that of the town was recently addressed when Utilimaster announced it has sold the majority of its plant to Forest River.
The RV maker will take full control when Utilimaster completes its relocation to Bristol, a little later this year.
For Wakarusa, with a population around 1,900, the announcement comes as good news, even more so for the downtown businesses that deal with a lot of local businesses on a number of different levels.
“This is great news,” proclaimed Stan Cook of Cook’s Pizza. “I would imagine that it won’t be long there will be some full employment out there provided by the company.”
“It will be a win, win,” added Mike Schade of Wakarusa Hardware. “When everything is said and done, the town will rebound, and we will be able to do just fine.”
“That keeps our customer base around,” Mac McNally of the Wakarusa Dime Store said. “It helps our tax base and holidays and things like that, guys that work out in those plants.”
