Thanks, DFL!
By Mitch Berg
DPMS Arms is leaving St. Cloud and taking a slew of jobs with it. The jobs are moving to Alabama to join a big gun conglom that is soaking up companies and jobs from gun-hostile states.
Good work, Michael Paymar. It was only Saint Cloud, right?
May 20th, 2014 at 8:25 am
wait til its those Federal jobs in Anoka or the jobs in Fridley – of course the Paymar/Martens/DG party line will be “why can’t they use their skills to make something useful like recumbent bicycles for the aged?”
May 20th, 2014 at 9:43 am
Randy Luth is a good friend of mine. He actually started his company in his garage, several years before he moved to Becker. It was located right next to the water tower in Osseo. He is still a member of the DPMS shooting team. If you ever have the opportunity to crack off a few rounds through one of their AR-15s, it may ruin you for other versions. Although they look like their competitor’s versions, their models seem to be easier to get comfortable with, if that makes sense. Randy actually told me several years ago that he was looking to sell, because he was getting grief from certain people in St. Cloud. Even though his facility was well out of town, there were those Paymar/Martens acolytes that would give hi grief. And, there is one reason that Cerberus hasn’t shed Freedom Group – all of their brands are making boatloads of money!
May 20th, 2014 at 10:13 am
Whether proposed MN anti-gun legislation is a true factor or not, it’s good that they included it among the reasons for the move. Needed proof that symbolic actions have real world consequences. However, I feel bad for any MN employees who are negatively impacted by this.
The Remington expansion has been quite volatile. According to sources familiar with Rohrbaugh, Rohrbaugh Firearms was also acquired by the Remington group. Rohrbaugh is a small producer of high quality, high priced, micro-sized 9mm pistols ( http://rohrbaughfirearms.com/company ).
Unfortunately, aside from claims of damage from hurricane Sandy, literally nothing has been heard from Rohrbaugh since that announcement month or two ago.
Needless to say, this has been quite disturbing to those in need of parts, those who have items on order, and those in need of warranty work. If Rohrbaugh’s acquisition is true, I hope the DPMS absorption by Remington’s parent company transitions quickly.
May 20th, 2014 at 11:33 am
Freedom Group purchased DPMS back in 2007. It makes sense since they also own Bushmaster that they consolidate at a more business friendly location. My guess Bushmaster will bid NY adieu as well in near future.
May 20th, 2014 at 11:40 am
When the shit hits the fan next time, the North is gonna enjoy the manufacturing handicap the South had last time.
We got most of the vehicle, steel, and arms manufacturing as well as food processing, but less than 10% of the stinking leftists. I like the odds.
May 20th, 2014 at 11:43 am
I won’t be surprised at all to see Federal cartridge move South. They need a name change anyway.
May 20th, 2014 at 12:01 pm
swiftee; Federal is now owned by Alliant Techsystems. They also own CCI, Blazer, Fusion, Speer Ammo/Bullets, Savage Arms, as well as a whole slew of firearms related accessory brands, like Bushnell, Weaver, Uncle Mikes, Outers, Bolle, and Hoppe’s. Since Alliant is still HQ’d here, I doubt that they will move. But then, that’s what Anoka thought when Lund Truck accessories moved down there.
May 20th, 2014 at 12:09 pm
FYI – ATK parent of Alliant, Federal, and many other familiar names has a significant presence in Huntsville, and Alabama in general.
May 20th, 2014 at 2:27 pm
My understanding is that ATK is going to/has relocated their corporate office from Plymouth to Anoka in the former Cornelius (sp?) facility. They have also improved the area along 10 there in Anoka as a Federal Cartridge nature preserve area. I can’t remember the last time I passed by the Federal Cartridge facility that there wasn’t a “Now Hiring” banner out front.
BH429: I thought DPMS just moved from Becker to a larger facility a little further South along 10 near Clear Lake/Santiago?
May 20th, 2014 at 2:47 pm
Wish they would ramp up the production of the lowly .22 shell.
May 20th, 2014 at 4:20 pm
Rumor (gun show gossip) has it that part of Remington’s new move south included another (additional) facility for its rim-fire products.
I bemoan the loss of the current generation; young potential members of the shooting sports culture whose generation might be skipped due to the greed of those supposedly causing the current .22LR “shortage.”
They will be forced to seek entertainment elsewhere (like gaming). This could also eliminate their progeny from inheriting the love of shooting sports, and forming the political strength which has traditionally sustained the “gun culture”.
Stock up now, guys … you never know when those zombies will rise up …
May 20th, 2014 at 9:18 pm
As Paul Harvey used to say: “And here’s the rest of the story”
New York and Montana are also losing Remington “firearms-related operations” in this operations consolidation.
/”The Birmingham Business Journal reported in March that the city of Huntsville approved $14.5 million in incentives to move into an abandoned Chrysler factory.”/
/Local incentives include $1 million from the Morgan County Commission, $500,000 from Limestone County Commission, and a combined $750,000 from Athens City Council and Limestone Economic Development Partners.
If it hires close to 2,000 employees at the Huntsville plant, the North Carolina gun company will receive $60 million in state and local incentives./
http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/morning_roundup/2014/05/remington-moving-ar-15-production-from-st-cloud-to.html
May 21st, 2014 at 6:27 am
Seflores; The City of Becker’s bureaucrats were a big thorn in Randy’s side the whole time he was there. Despite his efforts to be a good corporate citizen, he just couldn’t win with them. When the Del-Tone gun club went up for sale, that gave him the impetus that he needed (or was looking for) to buy it, which included a nice chunk of land and a house. He recognized it as the opportunity to have a convenient shooting range for product testing. The shop that he built on the grounds, wasn’t much bigger than the one that he had in Becker, but he was looking forward. In case he needed to expand, he had plenty of room to do so. His office was a veritable museum of historic guns that he collected over the years, including a BAR that was used by the a Marine on three islands in the Pacific, a 30 cal Browning mg , as well as military rifles from several decades and countries.
May 21st, 2014 at 7:46 am
We got a new Cabella’s recently, they’ve had .22 on hand (for $.07 a round)every time I’ve gone there. And I go there frequently to get .22 ammo. Stocked up about 5k now which should keep me happy until the new Bass Pro opens in August!
May 22nd, 2014 at 6:40 am
Boss, I can foresee Alliant leaving MN. I can also see 3M, formerly Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing leaving.
May 22nd, 2014 at 9:03 am
3M has been building its new facilities out of state, and out of the US, for decades. Its presence in Minnesota, while big, keeps dropping.
May 22nd, 2014 at 10:41 am
Once we lose Hormel, we’re doomed …
May 22nd, 2014 at 2:46 pm
Yes, I believe that 3M has been planning their exit strategy since the mid 90s when they moved a major division to Austin, TX. That division’s IT group was one of my customers and most of them took the re-lo package and moved down there. One of the Directors told me at the time that Minnesota regulations for building were killing them. 3M has since built some facilities here, so maybe things loosened up. Either that or the Maplewood nanny staters recognized that move as a shot across the bow.