Shady Grove

SHADY GROVE, Pa. - Grove Worldwide will permanently lay off nearly 40 employees at its Franklin County, Pa., plant, the company announced Friday. The giant crane and aerial manlift maker announced a reduction in its work force of 39 general administrative and indirect operations support personnel positions. The layoffs are permanent, the company said in a news release. The layoffs are in response to efficiency improvements and a result of the integration of Grove into the Manitowoc Co., which purchased Grove Worldwide earlier this year, the news release said.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com GREENCASTLE, Pa. - John L. Grove, called "arguably the most influential person who has ever lived in Franklin County," was honored with the Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce's first lifetime achievement award. Grove received the honor at the Chamber's annual banquet earlier this month. At the same time the Chamber presented its annual James P. Oliver Citizenship Award to Wayne and Sharon Baumbaugh, owners of the Echo Pilot, Greencastle's weekly newspaper.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com Grove Worldwide officials, blaming continuing depressing market conditions, announced on Friday the permanent layoff of 95 workers at its main plant in Shady Grove. It's the second layoff for the giant crane maker in last two months. In July, 125 workers were laid off. Grove also announced Friday that 51 workers were laid off in its National Crane Division in Waverly, Neb., said John McGeehan, vice president, Human Resources. McGeehan said the layoffs affected employees across the board in the Shady Grove plant.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com SHADY GROVE, Pa. - Final papers have been signed for the sale of Grove Worldwide to Manitowoc Co. Inc. of Wisconsin, a deal that has been in the making for more than 10 years, a Manitowoc executive said Thursday. Manitowoc acquired the Shady Grove crane maker for $271 million, said Steven Khail, director of investments and corporate communication for Manitowoc. "This really will be a marriage made in heaven," Khail said of the sale. Manitowoc bought the company from Grove Investors Inc. with a combination of cash to be paid at a later date, a private offering of senior subordinated notes due in 2012 and Manitowoc common stock.

SHADY GROVE, Pa. - Grove Worldwide has been issued two contracts by the U.S. Army Tank, Automotive and Armaments Command. The first is for the purchase of 30 AT422T cranes, which makes a total of 366 AT422T's ordered since the initial contract award in 1997. The latest AT422T contract is valued at $7 million with the total value of the contract since inception more than $90 million. Production will be through the end of this year and, with an additional contract extension and budget funding pending, an additional 100 to 200 units are expected in 2003 and 2004.

Grove Worldwide's main manufacturing plant in Shady Grove will continue to make cranes under its familiar trademark despite an announcement Tuesday that the company was sold to Manitowoc Co. Inc., a Manitowoc official said. Wisconsin-based Manitowoc will pay $270 million for Grove. That is $335 million less than Keystone Inc., a Fort Worth, Texas, investment company, paid for the giant crane maker in 1998. Employment at Shady Grove dropped from 2,500 in 1998 - when it was Franklin County, Pa.'s largest employer - to the current work force of about 1,100 employees.

Grove bankruptcy plan approved By RICHARD F. BELISLE / Staff Writer, Waynesboro SHADY GROVE, Pa. - The approval Monday of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring plan for Grove Worldwide "means good news for the community, our employees, customers and suppliers," said Jeffry D. Bust, company chairman and chief executive officer. continued Under the reorganization approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy court of the Middle District of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, Grove will trade $379 million worth of debt for company stock, Bust said.

Grove officials hint at job cuts By RICHARD F. BELISLE / Staff Writer, Waynesboro More layoffs may be on the way at Grove Worldwide following the consolidation of the cranemaker's customer support facility in Chambersburg with the main production plant in Shady Grove, Grove chairman Jeffrey D. Bust said in a press release Monday. continued In January, the company announced the permanent layoff of 290 production and office workers. Those cuts ended a year-long series of layoffs that dropped the company's labor force to about 1,400 workers.