USA: Rolling Rock plant shut down pushes Latrobe community to find a buyer

Workers at the Rolling Rock brewery are still shocked about the news that they could be out of a job, Channel 4 Action News reported May 27. The state-of-the-art plant was upgraded in 2002 when InBev, the beer's owner, poured $20 million into the green beer.

However, Anheuser-Busch bought the label and moved the beer's production to New Jersey, a move that has left generations of experienced workers upset.

"We're all proud of what we did to make it like that," said union employee Steve Zamiskie. "We had a line that was a pig in a poke, and if it wasn't for all of our ideas to change it, it wouldn't be running the way it is."

Rolling Rock has become the major drink for Pittsburgh transplants across the U.S., and with its sponsorship, the Rolling Rock Town Fair brought in thousands of people.

Almost 200 employees enjoyed the success with steady jobs, competitive wages and a low cost of living in Latrobe.

Rolling Rock was also the largest payer of real estate tax in the area, followed by Le Nature's and Latrobe-Timken Steel.

The three companies also consume the most water and keep the utility bulls lower for local residents.

"This makes no sense," said Bill Ehman with the Latrobe Community Group.

"I don't know how you can possibly market (a) product that's made with mountain spring water and make it with treated sewage, or whatever comes down that river, and say it's going to taste the same," said Nick Carota with the Bottler's Union.

Anheuser-Busch bought out Rolling Rock for $82 million. The brewery's asking price is somewhere around $50 million, Channel 4 Action News reported.

Some industry analysts suspect that the Latrobe brewery is just too small for the mass production they believe Anheuser-Busch is going to start, featuring marketing and sales projects for the rest of the world.

Other breweries have said it was purchased to get rid of the competition. If that were the case, there would be no need for a brewery.

Other workers believe Anheuser-Busch was looking for more shelf space in distribution centers and stores across the country.

With no answers to the questions, there's been a push to find a buyer for the Latrobe facility.

"I think the city could offer some things, such as tax incentives of that nature, to encourage someone to come in and pursue the bottling portion," said Latrobe Mayor Tom Marflak.

"The state can be part of a financial package, but of course that relies on a public-private partnership, and we need some private investors who are serious about maintaining that plant," said Allen Kukovich, with the Governor's Office.

A buyer must be found by July 31, which is the day InBev plans to shut down the plant.

Workers are trying to stop the deal with a petition.

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