Elkhart, Indiana-based Conn-Selmer, a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments and manufacturer and distributor of band and orchestral instruments, has announced a tentative decision to close its Eastlake, Ohio, instrument manufacturing plant on or about June 30, 2026. The decision was driven by "multiple reasons, including repeated annual financial losses," and Asian competitors' cost advantages have made the facility financially uncompetitive.
The closure will impact 150 employees. The company plans to transfer professional French horn production to its Elkhart, Indiana, brass factory and transition tuba, sousaphone, and student/intermediate French horn production offshore.
According to a company statement, "Conn Selmer is the largest manufacturer of band instruments in the United States, and we have proudly built instruments in Elkhart, Indiana, since 1875. The recent tentative decision regarding our Eastlake, Ohio, facility will improve our competitiveness and better meet today’s market demands, while streamlining our U.S. operations by concentrating professional brass manufacturing in Elkhart, Indiana, and percussion manufacturing in Monroe, North Carolina. We remain deeply committed to U.S. manufacturing, as we have been for more than 150 years."
Change is constant, and it's coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, nor promises of a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something terrible hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, at any time, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. While many employees can read the writing on the wall, why do most assume it’s targeted at someone else? Are you now wondering, Am I Next?