Sherrill, N.Y. — Sherrill Manufacturing Inc. is bringing jobs back to the United States from Mexico, a move that will almost double its workforce in this small Upstate New York city.

The company last week raised $1 million through a convertible loan from Drummond LLC. That has allowed the company to bring tableware production back to its plant in Sherrill from Toluca, Mexico, said CEO Gregory Owens.

Owens said the company already has hired seven people in Sherrill because of the shift and plans to hire at least eight more by the end of the year. It had between 15 and 20 full-time employees in Sherrill before the new hiring began, he said.

Sherrill Manufacturing makes high quality stainless steel forks, spoons and knives. It sells them under the Liberty Tabletop brand direct to the public through its website, www.libertytabletop.com.

As part of the shift back to the U.S., the company is expanding its product line to appeal to a wider array of customers, Owens said. Previously, the company sold only high-end flatware, but it now will begin offering more moderately-priced, though still high quality, flatware, he said. It also is in discussions with retail chains about selling its flatware in stores, he said.

The company was founded in March of 2005 by two former Oneida Ltd. executives — Owens and Matthew Roberts. They bought Oneida's factory and equipment and began production the day after Oneida Ltd. stopped production. It is the only company still making flatware in the United States.

The company ran into trouble during the Great Recession, though, and wound up filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 of U.S. Bankruptcy Law in 2010. As a result of the bankruptcy, it temporarily stopped production in Sherrill and shifted it to a contract manufacturer in Toluca, near Mexico City. Many of its 120 employees in Sherrill were laid off.

Sherrill Manufacturing emerged from bankruptcy Nov. 6, having paid all of the $4 million it owed to secured creditors and with a plan to pay all of the remaining $2 million it owes to unsecured creditors. And it resumed production in Sherrill, a community known as The Silver City because of its century-old history of tableware manufacturing. (Oneida Ltd. was founded by a utopian organization, the Oneida Community, in Sherrill in 1880.)

Owens said the company is looking for former Sherrill Manufacturing and Oneida Ltd. employees to fill the jobs it is creating in Sherrill. The company has lost track of many of the former employees since its bankruptcy, but it's likely that some still live in the Sherrill area, he said.

"The equipment is fairly complex, and if you have years of experience on it, it helps," he said. "We know they're out there."

People interested in applying can contact Matthew Robert, the company's president and chief operating officer, at matt.roberts@sherrillmfg.com or (315) 280-0727, ext. 302.

Drummond LLC is an investment company formed solely to make an investment in Sherrill Manufacturing. Owens said it is comprised of descendants of Robert and Olive Drummond. Robert Drummond worked at Oneida Ltd. from 1917 until his death in 1948, when he was director of industrial relations and employee education.

The $1 million loan is convertible to an ownership stake in the company.

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