Buck Knives moving to northern Idaho town

Cheaper workers compensation payments, lower labor costs and less expensive electricity bills are luring the famed sport and utility knife manufacturer Buck Knives Inc. from California to Idaho.

Associated Press

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595072296,00.html

Chuck Buck, the chairman of Buck Knives, said the move to Post Falls could eventually help the company put "Made in the USA" labels on the 15 percent of knives it currently manufactures overseas.

"We can’t make (those models) in San Diego, but we hope we can make some of them in Idaho," Buck said Monday. He was in Spokane, Wash., promoting the company’s new knives at a conference of the Outdoor Writers of America Association.

Buck said he sometimes gets disgruntled letters from customers asking why their knife has a "made in Taiwan" sticker. But he said that over the years it has been necessary to shift some production to Asia to keep manufacturing the $19.95 and $25.95 knives demanded by retailers such as Wal-Mart.

Buck Knives will open a plant in Post Falls in January, a move that will bring more than 200 new jobs to the area and help the 102-year-old knife-maker lower its costs to remain competitive against foreign imports.

The move is expected to save the company more than $1.2 million a year, Buck said.

Most of the savings will come in lower payments to Idaho’s workers’ compensation fund, the state pool that provides insurance for injured workers, he said. The company’s electric bill will also drop after the move to Idaho. Additionally, labor costs in Idaho run about 30 percent less than in California, Buck said.

The groundwork for the move was laid several years ago, when the company converted to so-called lean manufacturing, he said. By developing a more efficient production line, Buck Knives ended up with extra space in its 200,000-square-foot factory. The privately held company decided to look for a new home.

"I liked Idaho because it was so conservative and very business minded," Buck said. "Gov. Arnie (Schwarzenegger) is working very hard to change the business climate in California but we haven’t seen it yet."

Buck Knives anticipates $34 million in sales this year.