Quality Products says closing is imminent unless new options arise

Wednesday, December 7, 2005
A worker at Quality Products applies hot glue to the edge of a 3M brand Post-It bulletin board before applying the plastic edging. 3M was the major customer that allowed Quality Products to begin operations and has remained a steady customer since then.

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

Quality Products, Inc. has been in business for 16 years but unless the financial situation improves May 31, 2006 will be its last day. Quality Products is a not-for-profit private corporation that operates an extended employment sheltered workshop to provide employment for people with disabilities.

Hayden Morgan, board president, stated that the decision to cease operation comes after nearly four years of declining sales and inability to obtain sufficient work to sustain operation.

"It is a very tough decision to make knowing it will put seventy people with disabilities out of work with virtually no opportunity for work elsewhere," Morgan said. "Nothing would make this board of directors happier than to secure enough work to keep Quality Products in operation and supply employment for our loyal, dedicated employees."

The decision was hard but the move came as it did to ensure enough funds to pay off debts. "But this board is adamant that we must cease operation in a timely manner so liquidation will allow full payment of debts," Morgan said. "We must see that all who have supported our organization are fully compensated."

Manager Clem McFarland said Quality Products provides a wide variety of services to local businesses and he would be glad to talk to anyone to see if they could help with a business solution. "We do packaging, light assembly, mailing and document shredding," McFarland said. "We do a mailing for Cottey each year. Volume is the key, the more the better. We're working reduced schedules, so we can handle more business with the people we have."

McFarland said the workshop has recently expanded to include producing export pallets.

"Export pallets have to be made specially to be sure the country the pallet is destined for won't be invaded by bugs in the pallet. "We have to pay for an audit to assure the certifying authority that we produce the pallets in the way they require," McFarland said. "We use heat -treated wood, and we have to keep it separate from all other wood we have here."

The workshop lost some customers when Honeywell closed.

"We used to do some work for Honeywell, but they changed the part we worked on and we got left out," McFarland said. "When they left, we lost some business from their customers who we were supplying parts to."

New companies have come in but aren't yet supplying enough work.

"We've done things for Precision Aero, Extreme Products and Green Forest Wood Products but it hasn't yet replaced the work we were doing," McFarland said.

McFarland said Quality Products still worked for many companies, it just wasn't sufficient. "We're still working for a lot of companies, but it's just not enough to pay the bills," McFarland said. "We could use more business."

The workshop sells some products; wood furniture, shaped baskets, bird houses, calendars and much more, at the facility but it doesn't produce enough income to depend on. "We call it our factory outlet," McFarland said. "A lot of what we do is made-to-order merchandise but we also have some spec merchandise available."

For companies looking at the possibility of using Quality Products to handle their document shredding McFarland said the workshop took security very seriously. "We guarantee security," McFarland said. "Everything is kept locked up until it is shredded, which we do very quickly."

McFarland said he would talk with just about anyone that might have a job the workshop could perform. "I'd be happy to see what they needed and give them a quote," McFarland said.

Clem McFarland can be reached by calling Quality Products at (417) 667-8944 or by e-mail tcm@sofnet.com.

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