After more than 100 years in its south side location, a Milwaukee metal manufacturer might close its doors for good this August.
The Milwaukee Forge has been in receivership since late March. The company’s debts were bigger than its assets, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The court-appointed receiver — tasked with managing the forge and finding a buyer — is Michael Polsky. The Milwaukee attorney has served in that role at over 300 struggling companies.
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According to a layoff notice filed by its receiver this week, his attempts to find a buyer for the forge proved unsuccessful.
“Unfortunately, the Receiver has been unable to sell Milwaukee Forge’s assets,” Polsky wrote in the layoff notice.
“Therefore, a mass layoff or plant closing will follow,” he added.
Unless a sale still occurs, layoffs will start Aug. 18. The forge has 67 employees, including 17 laborers, eight machinists and several supervisors, engineers and office staff.
The last time the company went into receivership — in 2010 — it had 106 employees, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.
Workers at the forge press and hammer steel into custom shapes — like sprockets, yokes and king pins — for industries including agriculture, mining and aerospace, according to the company website.
The company was founded in 1913 and moved to its current Bay View location in 1918.
A June 16 auction of the forge didn’t result in a sale, according to the receiver.
Polsky will keep trying to sell the company but filed the layoff notice in case those efforts don’t bear fruit, his office wrote in a statement to WPR.
Workers are represented by locals of the United Steel Workers and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
“We regret having to make the decision; however, business and industry circumstances leave us no alternative. We thank you for your hard work and dedication,” Polsky wrote in the notice.
In the meantime, Milwaukee Forge will continue operating, Polsky’s statement said.
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