Tony Leavitt has yet to reach out to his former colleagues at Herff Jones, who learned this week the Iola diploma-making facility will soon close its doors.
He also hesitated after being approached by a Register reporter seeking comment on the closure.
“I’ve been kind of struggling with letting the smoke clear,” Leavitt said Thursday. “All I can really do is go out there and say ‘I’m sorry.’ And I’m a little apprehensive about still trying to present myself as a part of the company. I’ve been out of the loop for the past couple of years.”
Yet Leavitt also finds himself frequently referring to Herff Jones as “we.”
That’s because for more than a generation, Leavitt was part of the Herff Jones family.
He started working at Inter-Collegiate Press in March 1973, barely a month after the facility ity opened its doors. (It was acquired by Herff Jones shortly thereafter.) He steadily worked his way up the chain of command until becoming plant manager, a position he held until his retirement in 2013.
(He still owns some Herff Jones stock.)
Leavitt — like several others in the community — had heard rumors about Herff Jones’ future. But he did not learn about the planned closure until the company announced Tuesday it will consolidate its diploma-making facilities to a plant in Indianapolis.
Roughly 80 employees will be impacted. All are being offered a move to Indianapolis to continue their careers, but the logistics of packing up a family and moving across country make such a move difficult for most.
Those who choose not to stay will be offered severance benefits, outplacement and career transition support.
BUT ASK Leavitt about the local workforce, and his words begin to flow easier.
“The thing I’ve seen since I’ve been in management out there was the Iola plant consistently out-performed other plants in Herff Jones on customer satisfaction and profitability,” he said. “The employees of this plant — and the plant itself — were consistently brought out as a shining star within Herff Jones.”
He is optimistic Herff Jones employees have a unique skill set that makes them appealing to other area industries, “simply because of the job and the product.”
“These are workers who know how time-sensitive deliveries work,” Leavitt said, “who know how to be able to perform under pressure.”
That knowledge, however, does little to dull the pain.
“There was nothing more the employees could have done to try to prevent this, from the way I look at it,” Leavitt said. “You would go to the national sales conventions, and year in and year out, sales reps would just rave about the customer service the Iola plant provided.
“You look at the blood, sweat and tears people had put into this, and it really hurts,” he continued. “It hurts knowing the impact this potentially could have on Iola. No, we’re not one of the major employers, but for 40 years, we’ve been a solid employer.”
Leavitt estimated Herff Jones employed between 60 and 110 employees each year, many seasonal workers.
Part of the company’s appeal to working families was the demand was highest during the school year.
That meant parents could work full time while their children were in school. Then, as summer vacation arrived, those workers would be furloughed until the next fall.
The employees were dubbed “permanent seasonal” workers, Leavitt explained.
BUT TIMES changed.
As the economic climate grew more volatile, families soon discovered they needed two full-time, year-long sources of income.
Dependable, seasonal employees became harder to find.
Such a struggle was not unique to Herff Jones, Leavitt conceded.
“I’ve talked to representatives from other industries here, and they are all going through the same thing,” said Leavitt, who also serves on the USD 257 Board of Education
“My concern when we were talking about the bond election last fall was being able to continue to produce an employable workforce. When I talk about that, it’s coming from the heart.”
