Jayco plans to close Starcraft trailer plant

TOPEKA Recreational vehicle manufacturer Jayco Corp. plans to close its Starcraft trailer plant in early January, idling 244 workers. Jayco's Starcraft plant builds folding camping trailers, truck campers, travel trailers and fifth wheel travel trailers. President and Chief Operating Officer Derald Bontrager said the plant's production will be shifted to its Middlebury plants and that the Starcraft brand will continue to operate separately with its own sales staff and product development staff. The closure will be the second plant shutdown in recent months for Topeka, a town of 1,100 about 40 miles southeast of South Bend. Champion Homes, which builds modular homes, announced in October that it would close its Topeka plant, eliminating 120 jobs. A Jayco spokesman blamed the closing on the nation's financial and credit crisis, high fuel prices and falling consumer confidence. (AP)