CAT PLANT IN ORAN WILL CLOSE

ORAN -- The Oran facility of the Golden Cat Corporation will close Monday.

"The decision to phase out the Oran facility is part of Golden Cat's long-range plans which focuses on its cat box filler business," said James Gugino, director of the Cape Girardeau manufacturing and engineering facilities.

The Oran plant, located on Highway 77, processes clay for use in the agricultural industry as a vehicle for herbicide and pesticide delivery systems.

"The company's agricultural clay operations accounted for less than two percent of total sales," said Gugino. "People who work at the plant have known about the closing plans several weeks."

Twenty-one employees will be affected by the closing, which takes place Monday.

"We're making every effort to help the employees," said Gugino. "Some of the employees will be considered for positions in the company's Bloomfield cat box filler plant."

Two of the Oran employees have secured positions at the Cape Girardeau research and development and manufacturing headquarters located near the Municipal airport.

The company has leased the Oran property from Union Electric Corp., headquartered at St. Louis, since 1974.

Golden Cat, headquartered at South Bend, Ind., was formerly known as Edward Lowe Industries. The firm has about 550 employees. Other manufacturing operations are located in Olmsted, Ill.; Maricopa, Calif.; Philadelphia, Pa.; and Ontario, Canada.

The company is the nation's leading producer of cat box fillers under the Tidy Cat and Kitty Litter Brands.