The role of a good R&D Department cannot be overemphasized; the future of the company depends on it. To be able to bring fresh ideas to market is necessary for survival. But into the 80’s we were scrimping more and more on this function. Consolidation plans were front-and-center at this time, not the bringing to market new (and expensive) machinery. There were some collaborations made with cutting tool manufacturers to highlight their tools on our lathes, thereby sharing the costs. But these never got by the sales brochure stage, ending up usually with just one machine so equipped.

After the announcement of the move to Connecticut, the mood was sour; there were not too many people who wanted to leave town. Waterbury-Farrel continued to hold interviews, and tried to cajole people into relocating, but the effort was in vain. There were layoffs thruout the office and shop; a lot of our parts were now being machined at our parent plant in Connecticut instead of here in town. Then shipped up for assembly. At the end of 1983 about 60 additional union workers were given their pink slips. Merry Christmas. Only about 90 union workers remained at J&L into the new year. Business continued to decline. But the decline was felt thru out all the local manufacturers, not just as badly.

All thru this time, there were forces at work in the background trying to keep J&L open, and thwart the move. Bob Jones, a former VP of J&L, was behind one of the buyout attempts, but it failed. I was not privy to the details, so I do not know what transpired. I do know there was bad blood between the union and Bob Jones, so that may have been a factor. A perspective buyer named Donald Hoodes came into town and held several meetings with us. I remember one meeting at the high school where a lot of questions were thrown at him. But we were looking for a Knight on a White Horse, and he was the only one in sight. We didn’t know just what talent he and his people had to offer. It didn’t take long to realize that they had no real interest in the company, just its assets. I waited for an audience with some of the new owners, outlining some sort of plan. There were many people who bailed out, important people who should have been talked into staying; but nothing like that happened. I had a job offer at GE in Rutland, and told my boss. Nobody from the front office came around to change my mind. I should have taken the offer, in hindsight. But being comfortable with my job, and having a short commute, I stayed. Our insurance plan under Textron had been great, but soon the benefits would change, and there would be problems getting reimbursed for our medical bills. We all took pay cuts, shop and office. Turning J&L around in these circumstances was a daunting task.

It was early summer of 1985, and the Textron sale of J&L was done, Donald Hoodes being the buyer. At the time, 20 years was the rule for taking your retirement money out of the Textron Pension Plan. It had been 20 years and 2 weeks for me. I opted to “take the money and run”, and rolled it over into a 401(k) plan with a local broker.