Brea Plant to Close: NI Industries will...

Brea Plant to Close: NI Industries will close its wheel-manufacturing plant in Brea at the end of March, resulting in the dismissal of 31 salaried employees and 131 hourly workers. The 365,000-square-foot factory, in operation since 1977, builds steel wheels primarily for General Motors cars. An NI spokesman said the company had lost its crucial GM contract because of the car company’s decision to build more of its own wheels, and because the distance to GM assembly plants in the East resulted in high transportation costs for the NI products. NI Industries, a Long Beach-based subsidiary of Masco Industries, will sell the Brea facility, the spokesman said.