ILION, N.Y. — The company has been a staple in Ilion for more than 200 years. Almost everyone in the village of about 7,600 has a connection to Remington Arms, whether it’s working there themselves or knowing someone who did.

That legacy — and the generations of families it supported — ends in Ilion when the now-named Remington Firearms factory closes for good in March 2024.

Employees and village officials learned Nov. 30 of the closing from RemArms LLC, a holding company of Roundhill Group, LLC, which purchased the Remington brand and facilities in Ilion and Tennessee in 2020.

The move, announced in a letter sent to Ilion Mayor John Stephens from RemArms Director of Benefits and Compensation Brian Wheatley, ends the employment of 309 people at the Ilion plant as the company moves to consolidate all operations in its new headquarters in LaGrange, Georgia.

“This news is extremely heartbreaking for the village, county, and region, as the Remington name has been synonymous with Ilion since 1816,” Stephens said in a formal statement from the village. “As I stated back in my first term as mayor, ‘Ilion is Remington, Remington is Ilion’ and that continues to be a fact, even after the doors close.”

RemArms and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced in November 2021 the company would locate its global headquarters and open a new advanced manufacturing facility in LaGrange. At the time, RemArms noted it would invest $100 million in the project and create 856 jobs over a five-year period.

RemArms CEO Ken D’Arcy, in a video posted on the company’s social-media sites, made note of the cost of operating and maintaining the old buildings in Ilion along with the welcoming environment for the firearms industry in Georgia. He compared it with a concerning “legislative environment” in New York.

Ilion’s Stephens also points the blame at issues bigger than old buildings. “I blame this on the political climate in New York state,” he says in a telephone interview with The Central New York Business Journal.

The state’s SAFE Act (New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013) is among the toughest gun-control laws in the nation and passed in the weeks following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The shooter, Adam Lanza, used a Remington “Bushmaster” AR-15 in the shooting. Two years later, the relatives of the victims sued Remington. The company and the families reached a $73 million settlement in February 2022.

Whatever the real reason behind the closing, Stephens says the company will never be able to recreate what it’s giving up. “Remington is never going to find the skills and dedication that we have here in Ilion.”

Financially, he adds, the village should be fine. “This is going to be more of a nostalgic issue than a financial one” for the village, he contends. Remington owns the buildings and will be responsible for both maintaining them and paying taxes, and the village is already thinking ahead to how the 34-acre parcel could be reutilized.

For the workers losing their jobs, it could be a vastly different story. The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) union represents many of those about to lose their jobs.

“It is extremely disappointing to hear that RemArms LLC is closing its Ilion plant,” UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said in a press statement. “The workers in Ilion enabled RemArms to rise from the ashes of the Remington Arms bankruptcy in 2020-21. Without these workers and their dedication to producing the best firearms in the world, this company simply would not exist.”

“Our members, the community, local political leaders, and the UMWA worked tirelessly to keep this facility open and to return workers to the jobs they have had for over 100 years,” he continued. “This announcement by the company is a slap in the face to all of them. The timing adds insult to injury for those affected. Merry Christmas from RemArms.”

In the company video, D’Arcy stated the company will work with employees to transition them. With the plant closing on or around March 4, RemArms expects to complete employee terminations within 14 days of that date.

“As the affected workers and their families face an uncertain future, the UMWA rallies behind them, offering support and solidarity,” Roberts said. “The UMWA is committed to exploring all legal avenues to keep these union jobs where they belong, in Ilion, New York.”

Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R,C) — who represents the 118th Assembly District, which includes Hamilton County and parts of Montgomery, Fulton, Herkimer, and Oneida counties — said he was “outraged” that Remington “in Ilion will be forced to close.”

“Remington’s reported decision to close its Ilion plant next year is concerning and unfortunate. This facility, which received significant investment from the state, employs many local residents,” he said in a Dec.1 statement. “Unfortunately, like we have seen all too often in New York, burdensome regulations, crippling taxes and problematic energy and other policies continue to force businesses and companies to flee the state taking jobs and livelihoods with them. We will continue to communicate with state and federal officials and work to help and assist the company’s employees and their families during this difficult time.”

Founded in Ilion in 1816 by Eliphalet Remingtin, Remington Firearms is one of the oldest gunmakers in the country. From 1933 to 1993, DuPont owned Remington Arms, as it was then known. In more recent years, the company has changed ownership and names a number of times. Remington Arms filed for bankruptcy in 2018 and 2020, when it was acquired by Roundhill Group.