Officials with the city of Athens and Limestone County are hoping gun manufacturer Remington will stabilize as a company, despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week.

Remington operates manufacturing facility in Huntsville, near the Huntsville International Airport. A local partnership between the city of Athens, Limestone County Commission and the Limestone County Economic Development Association provided $1 million in incentives for the project.

The city of Athens and Limestone County Economic Development Association promised $250,000 each. The Limestone County Commission agreed to provide $500,000. More than $65 million in incentives were also provided by the state, city of Huntsville and Madison and Morgan counties.

Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks said he was saddened to hear about Remington’s financial woes. Reuters reported this week the company had accrued about $950 million in debt.

The mayor said he couldn’t speak on the future of the Huntsville facility but added the city would examine the terms of the agreement to ensure Remington has met its project goals. Most cash incentives are contingent upon specific “clawbacks,” which provide some assurance from the company.

In March 2014, when the county commission and city of Athens were approached about the incentives, the groups were told Remington would hire about 2,000 workers.

“There’s always some excitement when you recruit a new business, but we have to be cautious how how we’re investing our money,” Marks said.

Chip Cherry, president and CEO of the Huntsville-Madison Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber recently met with the company’s Huntsville leadership. He added part of that conversation included current market challenges.

“I think the facility here will see minimal impact (from the bankruptcy),” Cherry said. “Overall, they are very confident the facility will move forward. … We’re optimistic they’ll be able to ramp up over the 11-year period they’ve committed to.”

He explained the company had met two of its three objectives as outlined in the project agreement. Those objectives included capital investment, number of employees and employee wages. Cherry said the capital investment and wage objectives had been met.

He said there were only about 890 direct and indirect jobs associated with the Huntsville plant. He said the original “ramp-up” agreement spans from when the plant began production in 2015 and runs through 2025.

‘Good neighbors’

Tom Hill, president of the Limestone County Economic Development Association, said it’s possible Remington could emerge stronger than before. He pointed out that Remington is more than 200 years old and that nearly any industry encounters the occasional downturn.

Some market analysts have blamed Remington’s recent troubles on President Donald Trump. Firearm background checks declined faster in 2017 than in any year since 1998, when the FBI first began compiling the data.

Trump became the first sitting president to address the National Rifle Association in three decades, telling members at their annual meeting last spring that “You have a true friend and champion in the White House.”

Hill explained Remington may simply be using bankruptcy as a tool. He also doesn’t view the news as negative for the company or for those who contributed incentives.

“I think our effort was to be good neighbors and to help,” he said of the incentives package. “I think we need to look on the bright side and look forward. We might have an opportunity to grow this plant.”

Steve Turner, the only current Limestone County commissioner who was in office when the project agreement was approved four years ago, did not want to comment until more is known about the fate of the Huntsville facility.

The only other current commissioner who voted on the incentives in 2014 was Ben Harrison, who voted against the package.

The local incentives were offered as a side agreement to the original incentives agreement. The city made its first payment of $83,333 on April 15, 2014. Two subsequent payments were due on Jan. 2, 2015, and Jan. 2, 2016.

The Limestone County Commission’s commitment of $500,000 was also broken into three payments of $166,667. The last payment was scheduled for January 2016. Morgan County, which promised $1 million, had a payment schedule of $200,000 to be paid through January 2018. According to the agreement, payments from the entities were to be deposited into an escrow fund and then distributed to Remington.

Officials with Athens and Limestone County verified Tuesday that all its financial obligations had been met.