Released on September 8, 2009

Grede Foundries Inc., Milwaukee, announced it has won contracts worth more than $23 million annually and seen a 30% jump in employment at its plants over the past two months after filing for bankruptcy in late June.

According to a statement released by the company, the rebound is due to a stabilizing economy and customer preparation for a recovery in the manufacturing and automotive industries. Grede Chairman Richard Koenings said the company also has bid on several other contracts.

Several weeks ago, Grede announced intentions to close its Vassar, Mich., and Wichita, Kan., plants within the next four to six months, as the company continued to battle the economic downturn. The company said it plans to move some of those plants’ production to other facilities. Grede also is in the process of shutting down a facility in Greenwood, S.C. Koenings believes that the company will show more growth when all of the consolidations are complete in the spring of 2010.

“There’s been talk of the U.S. economy starting to prepare for economic recovery, and our experience at Grede seems to indicate some support for that,” Koenings said. “The goal of our recent right-sizing and restructuring efforts has been to position Grede for immediate profitability in what is expected to be a gradual turnaround as the U.S. emerges from its most tumultuous economic period in generations.”

Since June, Grede has increased employment by 25% at its Reedsburg, Wis., metalcasting facility and by 100% at its St. Cloud, Minn., plant, Koenings said.  Both facilities produce castings for the automotive industry. Koenings said metalcasting-related employment has also jumped by 15% at the company’s Liberty shop in Wauwatosa, Wis. and at its Iron Mountain, Mich. Facility, and by more than 20% in New Castle, Ind. The New Castle location supplies both the automotive and other industries, while Liberty and Iron Mountain supply construction, manufacturing, agriculture and other nonautomotive industries.