Ohio brass‑factory closure

Conn Selmer says it will permanently close its Eastlake, Ohio, brass factory on June 30 and end all 150 jobs there. (connselmer.com) (jfs.ohio.gov) The company first called the move a “tentative decision” on January 7, 2026, then made it official in an April 9 WARN notice filed with Ohio. The plant at 34199 Curtis Blvd. makes brass instruments, and 130 of the affected workers are represented by United Auto Workers Local 2359. (connselmer.com) (jfs.ohio.gov) Conn Selmer said it will move professional French horn production to Elkhart, Indiana, and shift tuba, sousaphone, and student or intermediate French horn work offshore. Reuters reported that Chief Executive John Fulton told workers in January that China would take over tubas, sousaphones and some French horns, which accounted for nearly all of Eastlake’s output. (connselmer.com) (usnews.com) In its WARN filing, Conn Selmer said the Eastlake closure followed “repeated annual financial losses” and an inability to match competitors based in Asia on cost. The company said it had invested millions of dollars, outsourced unprofitable products and bargained with the union before deciding to shut the plant. (jfs.ohio.gov) The closure lands in a state where factory jobs were central to Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign message about reviving U.S. manufacturing. Reuters reported that some Eastlake workers who backed Trump said they expected tariffs and “America First” policies to make offshoring harder, not easier. (usnews.com) (srnnews.com) That political angle sharpened because Conn Selmer’s parent, Steinway Musical Instruments, is owned by Paulson & Co., the investment firm of billionaire John Paulson. Crain’s Cleveland Business reported that Paulson & Co. bought Steinway and Conn Selmer in 2013, and Reuters said Paulson did not respond to requests for comment about the Eastlake decision. (crainscleveland.com) (srnnews.com) Union leaders and local allies tried to stop the shutdown after January. The United Auto Workers said workers launched a petition and community campaign to keep 150 union jobs from going to China, but Reuters reported that the effort did not change the outcome. (uaw.org) (usnews.com) Eastlake has made brass instruments for decades. Cleveland Magazine reported in 2017 that the Eastlake division had operated since 1966, which means the June 2026 closing would end roughly 60 years of instrument production at the site. (clevelandmagazine.com) (cleveland.com) Unless negotiations produce a last-minute change, the Eastlake factory stops at the end of June, and every worker listed in the April 9 notice loses that job on or after June 30. For a plant that once symbolized domestic brass making, the final date is now in writing. (jfs.ohio.gov)