Santa Ana Plant to Close, Move Jobs to Oklahoma

Bridge Products Inc. said it will close its Santa Ana manufacturing plant by this summer and transfer up to 35 jobs to an existing facility it owns in Muskogee, Okla.

Bridge’s Camel Tire Products division decided more than a year ago to close the Santa Ana plant, which it leases. The company makes tire patches and other tire products.

In addition to 17 to 20 hourly manufacturing and support jobs, about 10 to 15 customer service and administration jobs now at the Santa Ana facility will be centralized in Muskogee, and positions in accounting, purchasing and marketing will be added, said Bruce Garringer, Camel’s vice president and chief financial officer.

California employees will have first chance at the Muskogee jobs, he said. The company said the plant closure was ordered to improve service, enhance Camel’s competitiveness and cut costs.

The Muskogee site, which will become Bridge Products’ Aftermarket Components Division, will absorb roughly half of the products formerly manufactured in Santa Ana. A company plant in Alta Vista, Va., will take over the rest.

The Muskogee facility will become the main distribution center for Bridge, but Garringer said the Chicago-based company will retain a warehouse, distribution and sales facility somewhere in Southern California.