#29: Worst Thing I Ever Had To Do At Ball

Nothing Was Harder Than A Plant Closure

During my 32-year career, Ball Corporation grew from a basically North American collection of disparate businesses to an international behemoth focused on aluminum packaging.

You name a typical business action, I worked on communications for it. Acquisitions? New products? Divestitures? Corporate relocation? Brand changes? Labor issues? Natural disaster impacts? Employee injuries or deaths? Lawsuits? Neighbors complaining about noise?

Yes to all.

But by far the worst thing I ever did at Ball was work on plant closures.

Manufacturing plants are their own communities, each with a distinctive culture. They are also often major employers within their regions. That’s especially true for Ball, which for decades built (or acquired) its plants largely in small towns.

The typical Ball plant employed from 100 to 200 people. The plant manager was practically a …