NORRIDGEWOCK — A pending trade agreement between the Obama administration and Vietnam has shifted a spotlight on New Balance, a local employer and the last major U.S. athletic shoe manufacturer that still produces footwear in the United States.

Employing 800 workers in Norridgewock, Skowhegan and Norway, the company is caught in the middle of a national debate over whether the U.S. should lower the price of footwear for consumers or risk putting a major employer out of business.

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, visited the Norridgewock factory on Wednesday to tell workers she is fighting to preserve their jobs.

“The Vietnam agreement is not acceptable,” she said. “We’ll fight it every step of the way.”

Employee Stewart Hayden, a father of two from Stratton, said he was reassured that Snowe visited. “I love my job,” he said. “I’m very glad (Snowe’s) here because I know she’ll do what she can to keep the jobs here.”

The company is the second largest employer in Somerset County, with about 600 workers, and provides about $158,500 in real estate and property taxes to both Skowhegan and Norridgewock, according to town records.

The company is working hard to stay competitive in a time when manufacturing jobs are heading overseas, plant manager Raye Wentworth said. New Balance plans to make 744,000 pairs of athletic shoes in 2012 at the Norridgewock factory alone. While it used to take eight days to make a shoe, it now takes two hours or less.

But people at New Balance question whether they can remain competitive if Vietnam is able to flood the U.S. with more inexpensive sneakers.

The Obama administration says the trade agreement will create U.S. jobs by making it easier for Asian countries to purchase U.S. exports. Lowering the cost of footwear imported from Vietnam also means U.S. consumers will likely spend less at their local sneaker shop.

New Balance, however, says it will be more difficult to compete if the free-trade agreement eliminates a tariff on imported Vietnamese shoes, making them cheaper.

“We’re concerned about anything that makes it tougher for us to do business in this country,” said Matthew LeBretton, director of public affairs for New Balance.

Several employees said they worry about losing their jobs, but they trust a compromise can be reached.

“I’m keeping my faith,” said employee Cindy Ash, of Skowhegan.

At the other end of the floor, another employee expressed reserved hope.

“Everyone in the country is worried about their job in one way or another,” said Ellen Manzer, of Solon, who has worked for the company 14 years. “I believe in New Balance.”

The so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is an Asia-Pacific regional trade agreement being negotiated among the United States and eight other partners: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

Negotiations have been ongoing, and the U.S. plans to reach the outline of an agreement in November, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Ambassador Ronald Kirk, the president’s principal trade adviser, wrote in a letter to Congress in 2009 that the regional agreement “will create a potential platform for economic integration across the Asia-Pacific region, a means to advance U.S. economic interests with the fastest-growing economies in the world, and a tool to expand U.S. exports, which are critical to our economic recovery and the creation and retention of high-paying, high-quality jobs in the United States.”

On Wednesday, Snowe said she questions the proposed net job gain and wants to know what and where the resulting jobs would be. It was her first trip to the Norridgewock facility, although she has visited the one in Norway.

“We’ve fought this issue time and again,” she said. “It’s not a two-way street … Once it goes overseas, it is lost forever.”

Sustaining New Balance jobs, she said, is akin to “sustaining a way of life in rural communities.”
In addition to being an employer and taxpayer, New Balance funds numerous community programs. It has provided more than $100,000 a year in grant funds for projects in Skowhegan, according to Town Manager John Doucette Jr.

Among other things, the company has paid for a playground in Norridgewock, Town Manager Michelle Flewelling said, and employees that don’t live in town use the community’s stores, gas stations and bank.

“They’re more than just a tax bill,” Flewelling said, adding that it would be devastating if the facility closed.

Jim Batey, executive director of the Somerset Economic Development Corporation, said New Balance has been hiring during the last year even amid the economic downturn.

“We will support (Snowe’s) effort 100 percent. We need to keep these jobs, no question,” Batey said.
New Balance employee Jill Johnson said she doesn’t want to lose a second manufacturing job. She worked for the Hathaway shirt factory in Waterville for 15 years before it closed in 2002.

She’s worked for New Balance for five years and enjoys the hours and benefits, she said.

“They really seem to care about people here,” she said, adding a plug for the item in her hands: “I think we make a great shoe.”

Erin Rhoda — 612-2368
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