Stinger work resumption is good; questions still persist

It’s safe to say all of Libby breathed a sigh of relief when the 50 or so Stinger Welding employees returned to work last week. 

If you weren’t excited about it, you probably should be. 

The end of Stinger’s work stoppage means dozens of families will have a source of income to pay their bills, buy groceries and continue to thrive in the best small community in Montana.

It also means Lincoln County can still hope to see some measurable benefit from its investment in Stinger’s Libby branch. 

But the long-term future of Stinger remains in doubt. 

The federal government still expects the company to pay delinquent taxes that in September totaled $342,000. The Port Authority – essentially the county – still expects a return on its multi-million investment in the company. And Carl Douglas, the man who built Stinger from the ground up, died in a plane crash last month when his company needed him most. 

Steve Patrick, vice president of Stinger’s Montana operations, has indicated Stinger has four to five months of bridge-building projects lined up. So, for the time being, there appears to be enough work to keep the Libby plant busy. 

Patrick hasn’t provided answers to myriad other questions, including whether Stinger will be able to pay off its debts and continue operations in Libby during the long term. 

Will there be layoffs?

Will the Libby branch shut down? 

Who will assume control of the company?

Patrick declined an interview with The Western News last week, presumably because many important decisions have yet to be made in the wake of Douglas’ death. Or it could be because he doesn’t want to talk with us because we reported on Stinger’s financial problems last year. 

Either way, questions will linger until Stinger emerges from the shadows to tell the community which direction it’s headed. And Libby’s economy has a lot riding on the success or failure of the Arizona-based bridge-building company.

Long ago, Stinger would have been a second-tier company in Lincoln County. Fifty employees would have made it large in any era, but it’s certainly not as big or influential as Champion, Stimson or W.R. Grace. 

Nowadays, however, Stinger ranks among the top-10 private employers in Lincoln County, trailing companies such as St. John’s Lutheran Hospital, Revett Minerals, Addus Health Care and Rosauers. That makes Stinger a big part of the county’s economy, and, whether Stinger likes it or not, that status carries a lot of civic responsibility.

It takes time for the dust to settle after a major disruption, such as the death of a CEO. And, certainly, patience is due while management shifts to fill the void left by Douglas. 

But Stinger also needs to realize that rumors spread rapidly in a vacuum. And people tend to fear the worst. So, it might be a good idea to be as open and accessible as possible as the company plots a way forward. 

In the newspaper business, no news is rarely good news. In other words, when people avoid talking to the media, it’s usually because there is something to hide. 

I certainly hope that’s not the case with Stinger. 

For now, we can rest easy knowing that 50 people are back at work. But soon, the community will be looking for additional reassurance that Stinger has a long-term plan for Libby, and hoping desperately that the company will emerge from this difficult period even stronger than before. 

(Matt Bunk is publisher of The Western News. His column appears weekly.)