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Record & Observer ‘IT GOT OUR Record & Observer WHEELS SPINNING’ JACKSONVILLE
Load King Manufacturing acts “early and quickly” to shift strategy amid pandemic.
Job cuts at Gate Hospitality
Jacksonville company owns the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club and three other area properties.
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer BY MARK BASCH
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
JACKSONVILLE
Gate Hospitality Group permanently laid off 141 employees and temporarily furloughed more than 700 at four Northeast Florida resort and hospitality properties, according to a notification filed with the state. The layoffs affected employees at two oceanfront properties – the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club and the Lodge & Club at Ponte Vedra Beach. The other venues are the Epping Forest Yacht & Country Club and The River Club. “Sorrowfully, in early April, Gate Hospitality Group was forced to furlough a number of its employees as a result of government mandated closures and a decline in business resulting from COVID-19 stay-at-home orders,” Gate spokeswoman Misty Skipper said by email. “Thankfully, the majority of these furloughs are temporary and we are currently resuming operations and bringing employees back to work,” she said. A total of 735 workers were temporarily furloughed with the largest number, 486, at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club resort, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. The company also furloughed 109 employees at the Lodge & Club, 97 at Epping Forest and 43 at the River Club. The Inn had the largest number of permanent layoffs, 87. The Lodge laid off 24 employees, Epping Forest laid off 21 and the River Club laid off nine. The hospitality business is part of Gate Petroleum Co.
Record & Observer Special to the Daily Record
From left, Load King Manufacturing Co. leadership Charles Chupp, president; Kyle Manning, controller; Phil Black, executive director, client services; Tanner Franklin, executive director, manufacturing and supply chain; Ken Carella, executive director, business development; and Chad Grimm, chief operations officer.
BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
T
he week of March 9, leadership at Load King Manufacturing Co. retooled its strategy. “It all started with a phone conversation with Baptist Hospital,” said Chad Grimm, Load King chief operations officer. The Jacksonville-based health system asked for guidance about keeping staff safe during the pandemic and sought face
masks and infrared conveyors to sanitize equipment. Baptist chose a different supplier, but it set Load King on another track. “It got our wheels spinning,” Grimm said. Jacksonville-based Load King, started in 1958, designs, fabricates, delivers and installs retail store, supermarket, restaurant and other interiors, equipment and fixtures throughout the United States. It also provides services for the medical and hospital industries. It ships nationwide for brands like
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Starbucks and AMC Theatres, among other well-known names. Load King’s 300,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution plant at 1357 W. Beaver St., west of Downtown, employs 180 people. The single location includes metal and wood shops, graphics and signage, and also provides full project management for its brands, including in-house design and permitting, tenant improvements and service and warranty. SEE LOAD KING, PAGE 4
MBASCH@JAXDAILYRECORD.COM
THE BASCH REPORT
Shopping center owner collects 62% of rents though May 5 Regency Centers offers pandemic insight. PAGE 6 VOLUME 2, NO. 50 • ONE SECTION