The company came to the Port City in 2014 promising more than 1,000 jobs

WILMINGTON -- Vertex Railcar Corp. likely will close by the end of the year, according to an official who had been working with the company.

"I believe all options are off the table," said John Merritt of Dram Tree Consulting, which had been working with local commercial groups on ways to save the struggling company, on Friday afternoon. "I believe the company will be out by the end of the year."

Zack Whitman, a welder heading into work at the Raleigh Street train car maker's gate on Friday, said company officials told employees during a meeting Tuesday that the plant would close.

"They said it would be about 10 weeks," Whitman said.

Vertex has not notified the N.C. Commerce Department's Division of Workforce Solutions -- something required under state and federal labor laws known as the WARN Act for businesses with more than 50 employees -- of the plant's closing as of Friday morning, said Andrew Beal, a spokesman for the workforce solutions division.

The closing would bring to an end a rocky four years for the company since it announced -- with great fanfare that included an appearance by then-Gov. Pat McCrory -- that it intended to employ 1,300 people.

It never happened. Employment never reached more than a few hundred as the company saw ups and downs that included several rounds of layoffs, difficulty with the train car market and a federal investigation into Vertex's ties with a Chinese rail car maker.

"Although this is disappointing news, it was not unexpected," said Woody White, chairman of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners. "Thankfully, the economy is booming, and these employees should have a number of other options for full employment. We urge Vertex to assist their former employees in finding other work."

"It's disappointing to hear that a manufacturer is closing down," Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said. "They came in with a lot of fanfare and made a significant investment in that building. Hopefully, somebody will find a use for the building and maybe make rail cars."

With each bit of bad news, Vertex officials said the future looked bright -- including as recently as this summer, when it appeared as though Vertex's presence was diminishing.

"(Vertex) has more than 100 employees located in Wilmington. However, rail car demand has increased this year and Vertex is busy and in the process of growing," company spokeswoman Iris Zhang said in July.

Zhang and other company officials, including former CEO Donald Croteau, did not return messages seeking comment Friday.

Vertex does not own the land or building housing its 202 Raleigh St. factory -- it’s owned by an Ohio-based company called Wilmington Raleigh LLC and assessed for $7.1 million, according to New Hanover County tax records. Vertex does own $35.2 million in business equipment and supplies, according to county property records.

Whitman shrugged when asked what his next step would be.

"I guess I'll have to find another job," he said.

Reporter Tim Buckland can be reached at 910-343-2217 or Tim.Buckland@StarNewsOnline.com.

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