Webster Enterprises fires director, seeks commissioners' help

By Lynn Hotaling

One of Jackson County's largest manufacturers has dismissed its director and is seeking financial help from county commissioners in an effort to continue operations.

Webster Enterprises, a non-profit corporation and the county's third-largest manufacturing plant, fired executive director Arlene Stewart and consultant Alan Warshaw last Wednesday (March 5), said David Heitz, chairman of Webster's board of directors.

"(Stewart) was dismissed for cause," Heitz said Monday, though he declined to elaborate on the board's reasons for terminating the employment of Webster's lead administrator, who was under contract through June 2004.

Longtime director Gene Robinson, who retired from Webster Enterprises in 2000, has returned to the agency on a volunteer basis and will likely be named interim director. Darrell Fox, director of technical services, is currently in charge of daily operations at the plant, Heitz said.

Webster has experienced financial, image, management and contract problems in recent months, Heitz said.

On a positive note, Webster has patched up relationships with several customers and has received a three-month order, and staff morale has improved since last week's leadership change, Heitz said.

"Everyone at Webster Enterprises, including the board, is determined to put Webster back to where it once was," he said.

Heitz, Robinson and Fox sought and received financial help from the Jackson County Board of Commissioners Tuesday night.

Rather than asking outright for funding, Webster officials offered to sell the county up to 7.6 acres and a building Webster owns adjacent to the former county landfill in Dillsboro.

"We've decided to sell the Dillsboro property and offer the county the right of first refusal," Heitz said.

Commissioners' Chairman Stacy Buchanan, who met with Heitz, Robinson and Fox earlier in the day, expressed interest in the immediate purchase of 2 acres that house one of Jackson County's seven staffed recycling centers.

"The SRC is located on their property, and our agreement to use it is basically a handshake," Buchanan said.

Buchanan proposed paying Webster the appraised value of $25,000 per acre for the 2 acres.

Following a motion by Roberta Crawford, commissioners voted unanimously to move forward with acquiring the SRC site.

Buchanan indicated that commissioners would discuss purchasing the remaining 5 acres and 1,700-square-foot building during a planning session scheduled for tonight (Thursday).

Robinson told commissioners that it was his recommendation to Webster Enterprises board members that they sell the Dillsboro property and eliminate recycling operations in order to concentrate on the agency's manufacturing program.

Recycling never has been conducive to Webster's program because people associate the corporation only with recycling and ignore the thriving manufacturing enterprise, Robinson said. Another drawback is that the recycling program didn't make any money because of Webster's commitment to "recycling everything."

"There's money in aluminum cans, but there is no money in plastic," Robinson said.

Webster's additional acreage currently houses Jackson County's recycling center, which Webster Enterprises resumed operating in October after subcontracting the operation for two years.

Recent complaints about the appearance of the recycling center prompted a N.C. Department of Natural Resources inspection last week, said Jim Patterson, waste management specialist with DENR's Division of Waste Management.

The site was "unmanaged and unsightly" when he visited it last Thursday (March 6), said Patterson, who gave Webster until March 10 to remedy the problems.

"There was quite an improvement when I was there (Monday)," Patterson said. "They had worked all weekend, and there was a marked improvement."

Patterson said he had given Webster another three days to complete the cleanup.

DENR does not issue permits to recycling operations, Patterson said, but he could have declared the site an open dump and issued a notice of violation.

Webster Enterprises provides recycling services to the county on a contract basis, though the agency subcontracted county recycling to Country Collections Corp. from July 2000 until October 2002.

Founded in 1976 as the Jackson County Sheltered Workshop, the agency is largely the result of efforts by parents of individuals who needed the kind of services Webster provides.

The agency uses work and work-related activities to provide vocational assessments, training and support services to persons with disabilities as well as vocational rehabilitation, which provides training and preparation to individuals preparing for competitive employment.

As manufacturing operations were expanded, the agency's name was changed to Webster Enterprises to better reflect the diversity of the company's products and services to clients.

When operating at full capacity, Webster employs about 120, Fox said.

Historically, Webster Enterprises has provided employment to both disabled and low-income workers through its manufacturing and recycling operations.

Back to Archive: 03/13/03.