Arctic Cat to cease operations in Thief River Falls, St. Cloud

Arctic Cat to cease operations in Thief River Falls, St. Cloud

THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. (Valley News Live) – Arctic Cat is suspending manufacturing indefinitely at its facilities in Thief River Falls and St. Cloud.

Citing weak market demand, production is set to stop in the first half of 2025 after fulfilling current customer commitments.

An employee tells us the news was shocking, saying: “I found out through the grapevine and social media. So, we.. A lot of us that are laid off didn’t have any idea this was coming today.”

The employee has been with the company for more than a decade. He adds: “It’s devastating to Thief River. As far as other jobs around here, it’s very limited. To find anything else around here is a good hour away like Grand Forks or Fargo.”

Brandon Haddock, Textron’s Director of Communications, provided the following statement to Valley News Live:

In response to the ongoing business conditions facing the powersports industry, Arctic Cat will suspend manufacturing operations indefinitely at our facilities in Thief River Falls and St. Cloud, Minnesota, after planned production in the first half of 2025 is complete.

Textron Inc. also announced that it is exploring strategic alternatives regarding the future of the powersports business. These actions are difficult but necessary as we have continued to experience softness in consumer end-market demand, resulting in a need to reduce costs.

Arctic Cat remains open for business with respect to selling current inventory and providing aftermarket support and services to our existing installed customer base. Our sales organization, customer service teams, aftermarket distribution centers, and other functions are ready to assist our dealers and loyal customers. We are committed to providing the service and support to keep our thousands of loyal customers riding and enjoying Arctic Cat vehicles.

We will resume production as planned after the new year to produce units under existing customer commitments. However, once that build is completed, we will suspend operations indefinitely, and will release our manufacturing employees at the Thief River Falls and St. Cloud facilities. Employees who work through their specific completion date will be offered severance benefits.

We will monitor industry conditions throughout this suspension, and make further announcements about our operational plans when we have more information to share.

We thank our employees, dealers, customers and supporters for their loyalty, patience and understanding as we weather the difficult conditions facing our business and our industry.

Last month, Valley News Live told you about 65 employees at the Thief River Falls facility being affected by workforce reductions. You can read more about that here.

Haddock tells us currently furloughed hourly employees will be able to return to work after the new year to complete production to fulfill existing commitments to our customers. However, once that production is completed, they will release manufacturing employees at those facilities.

Click to view Textron Inc.’s 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed Wednesday.

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