150 idled as SW Pa. folding trailer plant closes

SOMERSET, Pa. - A plant that makes Coleman brand folding campers has shut down in southwestern Pennsylvania, idling about 150 workers.

FTCA Inc. was based in Somerset, about 65 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, and is formerly known as Fleetwood Folding Trailers.

Don Meyer is a spokesman for the plant's parent company, Blackstone Capital Partners L.L.C. of Annapolis, Md. He says the plant was shuttered Wednesday because while higher-end recreational vehicles are becoming more popular, the segment of the market served by the FTCA plant is not.

That plant manufactured folding trailers that generally sold for less than $10,000. Meyer says those "sales were down and were not recovering."

Officials with the Somerset County Economic Development Council say about 150 workers are losing their jobs.