Submitted by Mae Vonne Adams
Sixty years ago, Bill Welch, Stan Litizzettie and Chris Jufas came up with a plan to bring an industry that would benefit the economy of Carbon County. A group of Carbon County businessmen formed Pro Carbon group and negotiated with Bill Theisman, VP of Koret of California, to bring a plant to Price, Utah. Pro Carbon would construct the plant under Bill Theismans specifications and Koret would lease the building.
On Labor Day, 1968, the plant was officially opened and under the direction of Burk Biersdorf, plant manager, in one week, 1,277 pairs of pants were completed and within the first month proved that the plant would be profitable. By June 1970, with production figures of 3,000 units per day, one million pairs of pants had been constructed.
Almost 200 men and women from Carbon and Emery counties were employed with Koret during the 30-year period. It was the city’s sixth-largest employer providing not only good wages, but also good benefits, such as health insurance for employees and their families, life insurance and a retirement package. Those who worked there worked under an incentive program and were paid by piece rates. The harder you worked, the more money you made. Working conditions were safe and working hours were arranged to be flexible with those mothers who had children in school.
With trade agreements such as NAFTA and GARR, global competition and the high cost of domestic production, the Price plant was closed. On the Sept. 1, 1998 closing, 104 workers and a payroll of $2.5 million had a hard impact on the Castle Valley area.
It has been many years since the closure of the Price Koret plant and the friendships formed were one of the lasting benefits of working together. Since then, we have lost many of the friends and Koret family members from that period. This year, we have resolved to have a long overdue reunion to visit and remember all of the good times we shared.
On Sept. 23, we hope that any former Koret employee will join us at the Pioneer Park in Price from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. We are reaching out to you to let everyone know and look forward to seeing all of you. We consist of Sue Pilling, Lavon Kutkas, Arletta Childs, Mary Ann Oviatt, Anita O’Neil, Janet Rodel and myself, Mae Vonne Adams.