Auto woes hit Hess

By YaVONDA SMALLS, Tribune Staff Writer

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By WSBT News1

Story Created: Dec 2, 2008 at 9:52 AM EST

Story Updated: Dec 2, 2008 at 9:52 AM EST

NILES — The economic woes hitting the automotive industry have trickled down to a company here, costing an undisclosed number of people their jobs.

Hess Industries, 30257 Redfield St., said it indeed had a layoff Monday, though it couldn’t confirm the number of people affected or provide details such as when the layoff officially goes into effect.

“The automotive industry has been contracting, and the economy has been slowing,” said Rick Sheffer, marketing director for Hess, a more than 30-year-old company that has been in the Niles area since its inception. “Now it has affected our sales.”

The company, an auto supplier to tier one automotive companies globally, basically makes machines to make components such as wheels for cars, trucks and tractors and catalytic converters for auto exhaust systems, Sheffer said.

Hess Engineering Inc. was incorporated in 1976 as a privately held company by Tony Hess. The company’s initial focus was on the design and manufacture of wheel and rim process lines for the automotive industry, according to the company’s Web site.

Over the next 30 years, Hess Engineering evolved into Hess Industries Inc., a multidivisional engineering and manufacturing company comprised of Hess Engineering Inc., Capitol Technologies Inc. and X-cel Steel Fabrications Inc.

Sheffer said it’s regrettable that it has become necessary for the company to do a layoff, but it was needed.
“It’s a necessary step to take at this time,” he said.
Even so, some good news could be on the horizon, according to Sheffer.
“We’re very optimistic that, within the next three to six months, things will turn back up for the auto industry, and obviously for us,” he said.

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