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February 10, 2025

Town of Southington seeks answers on Rex Forge site

The Rex Forge plant on Atwater St in Southington.
By Harriet Jones

The town manager of Southington says management at the soon-to-be shuttered Rex Forge manufacturing plant has yet to be in touch to discuss the future of the site.

Alex Ricciardone said his economic development coordinator has reached out to the troubled company.

“We haven't heard back from ownership if they have any plans for redevelopment of the property or what they're looking to do,” he said

Rex Forge recently informed the state Department of Labor that it would close at some point between Feb. 10 and Feb. 25, with the loss of 103 jobs, after losing its sole customer Dana Corp.

The two companies appear to have been involved in legal proceedings for more than a year. In November a judge upheld a previous arbitration that had awarded Dana Corp. $965,000 for alleged breach of delivery and supply obligations by Rex Forge.

Rex Forge countered that Dana had breached a purchase agreement by making erroneous debits and overcharges. The Connecticut company was awarded $144,000.

Ricciardone says the town has offered to help refer laid-off workers to outplacement services, and will work with the company’s human resources department to mitigate the impact.

For the longer term, he’s concerned about the future of the site along the Quinnipiac River.

“It’s a very prominent location in Southington,” he said. “We are ready, willing, able to help them keep the business going in some way or transition to a new company because it's a very prominent location on our Linear Trail which comes from New Hampshire all the way to New Haven.” 

The site, at 335 Atwater St. in the town’s Plantsville section, has been owned since 1975 by J.J. Ryan Corp., which does business as Rex Forge.
 

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