Feist is Leaving Spearville

[Made in the USA]

Spearville losing home-grown publishing operation to Iowa
The Associated Press

SPEARVILLE, Kan. — Thirty years after its founding in this southwest Kansas town, Feist Publications will close its production plant here as part of a consolidation by its New York-based parent company.

A representative of Yellow Book USA, which bought Feist in 2004, broke the news Thursday to the 60 employees. The plant — Spearville's largest employer — will close at the end of July and production will move to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Tom and Robert Feist established the company in 1977 in the living room of their home in Spearville, a town of about 800 people located northeast of Dodge City in Ford County.

The mom-and-pop business grew into the nation's fifth-largest independent publisher of telephone directories. At the time of its acquisition by Uniondale, N.Y.-based Yellow Book USA, Feist was publishing directories with a circulation of 4 million in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Texas.

Employees were stunned by Thursday's announcement, many breaking down in tears. Some noted that the Spearville plant had just recently expanded as all of Feist's production was transferred to the town from Wichita.

Tom Feist could not be located for comment Thursday.

But his brother, Spearville banker James Feist, said the closing "will have a drastic effect on the town."

John Hartz, a spokesman for Yellow Book USA, said all affected workers would receive severance packages. Those who worked for Feist before the Yellow Book acquisition will be paid into 2008, he said.

Yellow Book is encouraging Feist employees to relocate or apply for positions elsewhere in the company, Hartz said.

A personalized letter of recommendation will be provided to each Feist employee, and Yellow Book will work with local employment agencies and governmental agencies to prepare the employees for future employment, Hartz said.

James Feist said the Spearville company truly had been a homegrown operation.

"I remember Tom working out of his bedroom in the early days of the company," he said. "His son, Jay, was a high school kid when the company began, and he became an officer of Feist and worked there for several years. All of Tom's six children helped out, but they all are gone from Spearville now."

[lurker]

That's too bad. Maybe Spearville should build an Events Center



















and a racetrack.

[Firedog]

They new it was coming when they closed the big office in Wichita, KS. They told people when Yellowbook bought them, that the Spearville office would only be guarantee, like 4 years that it would not be closed. They told them all that. It is a bad deal for a lot of people and a small town. But who are you kidding, a big company like that buys a small town business, where there is no airport, no hotel. They are not going to fly to Dodge City, then drive 20 min. to the office and then drive back to Dodge and wait to fly out again.
GOOD LUCK to the ones that lost thier jobs.

[TheWizzard]

good one lurker

[Bubba]

Or, they could build a state-of-the-art dog pound for dogs with overactive imaginations spewing tales of government conspiracies.

[TexKan]

woof woof???????

[Made in the USA]

Well they are in Ford County at Spearville, how about they build the new jail over there!!

[Bubba]

There ya go. That's thinkin!!

[booger]

Wonder why Dodge City did not go after the headquarters for Yellow Book to move to our FINE city? Ponder that.

[K C Muffin]

Originally Posted by Firedog

They new it was coming when they closed the big office in Wichita, KS. They told people when Yellowbook bought them, that the Spearville office would only be guarantee, like 4 years that it would not be closed. They told them all that. It is a bad deal for a lot of people and a small town. But who are you kidding, a big company like that buys a small town business, where there is no airport, no hotel. They are not going to fly to Dodge City, then drive 20 min. to the office and then drive back to Dodge and wait to fly out again.
GOOD LUCK to the ones that lost thier jobs.

I dunno - there are worse things than driving 20 minutes on a non-congested road - even a 2-lane one!!! I drive 20 minutes - heck, the boss drives more than that and he owns the building!!! I'm a little surprised - unless they weren't sure of the labor pool being there...everything would be cheaper in Spearville...wages, taxes, everything. Hmmmm.