Governmental entities that provided incentives to Remington’s Huntsville plant received reimbursement checks this week after the company agreed to forego the balance of an incentive for job creation, an official said.

Chip Cherry, president and chief executive officer of the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement the repayments were “in consideration for a flattening of the job ramp-up schedule.”

Cherry explained when the company filed for bankruptcy last year, it triggered a renegotiation on the terms of a development agreement between Remington and its “regional partners,” which included the city of Athens, Limestone County Commission and the Limestone County Economic Development Association. The three entities had teamed up to provide $1 million in incentives to the project in 2014.

The commission provided $500,000, while the city of Athens and the LCEDA provided $250,000 each. This week, Limestone County received a check for $142,161, while the city of Athens and LCEDA each received $71,036. The checks were sent by the Huntsville Industrial Development Board.

Cherry said the reimbursements represent one-third of the amount contributed by the funding partners.

Limestone County Administrator Pam Ball said the county’s reimbursement would be returned to the public building fund, which is where the county’s contribution was pulled from. Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks said he would like to put the city’s reimbursement into future industrial development, but added the decision would ultimately be up to the Athens City Council. He said he may approach LCEDA President Tom Hill with the same proposal.

Huntsville support

Despite regional excitement about Remington choosing to open a plant in Huntsville, the company has faced a number of challenges since the 2014 announcement. The company pledged to create 2,000 jobs within 10 years, but it has struggled to achieve job targets.

A project development agreement between Huntsville and Remington was approved by the City Council in February 2014. Remington promised to have 680 employees at its Huntsville facility by the end of “project year” 2017.

The statement issued in March 2018 said Remington has approximately 500 local employees and contributed $30 million in annual payroll into the community.

Just two months after filing for bankruptcy, Remington issued a statement saying it had exited from Chapter 11. Cherry said the company is committed to the Huntsville area, and that Remington’s senior leadership is now based in Huntsville.

The company also has strong continued support from the city of Huntsville, which — combined with the state of Alabama, Madison and Morgan counties — provided more than $65 million to the project.

“Huntsville and our regional partners fully support Remington’s future with growth and employment,” the statement read.

Firearms industry challenges

One issue plaguing all gun manufacturers has been a sharp decline in gun sales since President Donald Trump was elected. According to published media reports, gun sales were down 6.1 percent in 2018. Following last year’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, gun-control groups have been more active.

In Florida, a surge of gun-control measures were enacted, including increasing the minimum age for purchasing a firearm and requiring waiting periods. The number of states with so-called “red flag” laws — which allow temporary confiscation of weapons from people deemed a safety risk — doubled.

At the federal level, for the first time in modern history, gun-control groups outspent the powerful NRA on the 2018 midterm elections. The new Democratic majority in the House this week held its first hearing on gun control in a decade.

The Parkland attack came just a few months after two other gun tragedies: the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history that killed 59 people at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas and the slayings of 26 churchgoers in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

In the wake of those massacres, the NRA’s influence waned. Trump directed the Justice Department to ban bump stocks, the device used by the Las Vegas gunman that allowed his rifles to mimic fully automatic weaponry.

The NRA also faced boycotts from corporate America, with some financial firms refusing to do business with gunmakers and some retailers pulling firearms and ammunition off shelves. A federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election widened to include suspicions that agents sought to court NRA officials and funnel money through the group.

The NRA has cast itself as being in financial distress because of deep-pocketed liberal opposition to guns and what it calls “toxic lies” in news reports. Last summer, the organization raised its annual dues for the second time in two years.

Parkland “definitely marked a turning point,” said Adam Winkler, a professor at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law and gun rights expert. “There is no doubt that the energy, the enthusiasm, the mobilization of these students was very influential. It did affect a lot of people across the country.”

But, he said, the NRA “remains a powerhouse,” and it’s too early to suggest that gun groups’ troubles are insurmountable.

“No one ever made a lot of money betting against the NRA,” he said.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.