EASTLAKE, Ohio — Travis Sarka is a color buffer at the Eastlake plant of Conn Selmer. He said a single text message he received Wednesday changed everything.
“I got information via text that the plant is shutting down,” he said.
At first, Sarka said he couldn’t believe it. But, within minutes, he got confirmation from his union. That’s when all the pieces fell into place.
“There were signs there,” he said. “They were sending people home early for lack of work and for, you know, that things with the material weren’t going as well.”
Conn Selmer bills itself as the largest manufacturer of band and orchestra instruments in the United States.
“It has a fat label that says ‘Made in USA’ but secretly manufactured in China,” Sarka said.
In a statement on its website, Conn Selmer announced a “tentative decision” to close the Eastlake plant “on or about June 30, 2026.” It plans to move some operations to its Indiana plant and the rest overseas.
“It’s cheaper,” said Sarka. “They want to spend money in China, they don’t want to spend money here.”
Robert Hines is the president of UAW Local 2359 representing the Eastlake plant employees. He said even the threat of tariffs wasn’t enough to stop the company from moving jobs overseas.
“Basically told us… We’ll pay the tariff, we don’t mind. We don’t care,” he said. “They’ll eat the cost and ship the work overseas. So, I think that’s a slap in every American’s face, honestly.”
It’s a transition that brought up big feelings in some of Conn Selmer’s 150 Eastlake workers, like Quality Inspector Sherri Pongtornwatzhakorn.
“I was very angry and I let it be known,” she told News 5.
Pongtornwatzhakorn worked at the Eastlake plant for more than 14 years.
“I love it. I love my job, I love my coworkers,” she said.
To these workers, leadership is choosing profits over people.
“They want cheap-made product,” Sarka said. “I understand that they have to make their dollar too, but at the cost of what?”
For now, Sarka said workers have been told to keep hitting their numbers, or that the June 30 closing date may come sooner. Pongtornwatzhakorn said her next step is prayer.
“Maybe this’ll weigh heavy on corporate’s heart, the president’s heart, the owner’s heart,” she said. “And see what devastation they’re causing 150 families that don’t deserve it.”
News 5 reached out to Conn Selmer on Wednesday and Thursday to address some of the concerns and claims from its workers here in northeast Ohio. We have yet to hear back.
