Atlantic Foundry Company

The Atlantic Foundry Company was an Akron, Ohio-based iron casting manufacturer that operated from 1905 to 1989. The company was founded by Charles Reymann Sr., a French immigrant from Alsace-Lorraine, and was privately owned and operated by the Reymann family until its closing. [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=0EB629DE6592C3E4&p_docnum=1&s_orderid=NB0108081817040119811&s_dlid=DL0108081817042628670&s_ecproduct=DOC&s_ecprodtype=&s_trackval=GooglePM&s_siteloc=&s_referrer=&s_username=Ecoleetage&s_accountid=AC0108081817024128026&s_upgradeable=no "Memo: End of an Era," Akron Beacon Journal, March 19, 1989 (fee-based access required)] ]

At its peak, the company employed 450 people and operated its own credit union. The company also created a division called Akron Mattress Co., which was later sold in the late 1960s to a private concern that became Schubert Industries Inc.

Atlantic Foundry closed on January 13, 1989. Thomas Reymann, the company’s final president, said the manufacturing plant had not been profitable during its final six years. The Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC), a non-profit program affiliated with Kent State University [ [http://dept.kent.edu/oeoc/AbouttheOEOC/AboutTheOEOC.htm "About the OEOC," Kent State University] ] , attempted to work with the foundry’s employees to purchase the company from the Reymann family under the terms of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). However, a lawsuit brought by 125 foundry retirees seeking the resumption of health and life insurance benefits derailed the ESOP negotiations. [ [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=0EB62A16F8C7768B&p_docnum=1&s_accountid=AC0108081817024128026&s_orderid=NB0108081817012403994&s_dlid=DL0108081817024928068&s_ecproduct=DOC&s_ecprodtype=&s_trackval=GooglePM&s_siteloc=&s_referrer=&s_username=Ecoleetage&s_accountid=AC0108081817024128026&s_upgradeable=no “Retirees Sue Foundry for Benefits, Damages,” Akron Beacon Journal, May 27, 1989 (fee-based access required).] ] OEOC would later state that the United Steelworkers labor union opposed the buyout because the terms of the ESOP would have removed the onus for the retiree obligations from the original management. [ [http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2006/0906bell.html “Worker-Owners and Unions: Why Can't We Just Get Along?”, Dollars & Sense Magazine, September/October 2006] ]

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