NAFTA

We thought that we would be in a much better position when we moved, but, ultimately, this didn't prove to be the case.  Things were better for a long time, though, in Louisville Chapter 7 was an idea that never entered into our minds.  Business was great for a  long, long time.  Then we started to lose out of foreign competition.  It was probably the North American Free Trade Agreement that spurred out problems along.  We suddenly found that we couldn't compete using a labor force here in Kentucky.  We were really upset at this.  Most of our competition had moved their production plants across the border to Mexico, and they were selling about 20% lower than we were.  We thought about moving production, but we couldn't, for two reasons.   One reason was that we had had just built a plant, and we couldn't afford to just up and abandon it.  Selling it was out of the question.  Another, probably more important reason, had to do with a feeling of responsibility we had for our employees.  We promised that as long as we were a money making concern we would support the people we hired.  We became very good corporate citizens.

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