Crown Equipment affected by tornado damage to Ohio plant

Last Sunday, Crown Equipment Corp.’s Celina, Ohio, manufacturing plant sustained damage due to a tornado.

Fortunately, employees had plenty of time to take shelter and no injuries were reported.

According to the National Weather Service, one of two EF-2 tornadoes in the area touched down in Celina and some of the most significant damage was at Crown Equipment Corp. where a significant portion of the roof was removed and exterior walls on the southwest side of the building collapsed.

The effects of that damage are being felt in Greencastle, where the just-in-time nature of the delivery of parts produced in Celina has affected production at the local Crown plant and employees have reportedly gone on brief hiatus.

Following Thursday night’s City Council meeting Mayor Bill Dory said has talked with Randy Miekamp of Crown’s New Bremen, Ohio, headquarters, who said availability of the needed parts is currently “day-to-day.”

A local Crown official, however, indicated that after Monday, the local plant is expected to be at normal production levels again.

At Celina, clean-up and recovery activities are under way and Crown is committed to restoring production at the plant.

The company has had a team working on the recovery plan for the facility since shortly after the tornado hit on Sunday.

Power has been restored to the Celina plant and Crown’s contractors and suppliers are lending their support by providing much-needed resources.

Communication with affected employees, customers and other impacted parties is ongoing.

Crown is one of the world’s largest material handling companies with a reputation for award-winning product design, advanced engineering and technology, and superior after-sale service. Crown produces a broad range of forklifts as well as automation and fleet management technologies.

Crown, which opened operations in Greencastle more than 20 years ago, boasts a local workforce of 667 according to figures used in its statement of benefits filing for tax abatement purposes, and plans to add 100 more employees over the next four years with a planned expansion into the former TechnoTrim facility across State Road 240 from the Crown plant on the city’s East Side.

The company’s global headquarters is located in New Bremen. Its employees number more than 13,000 worldwide.