Minnesota-based Polaris Industries announced in mid-May it would close its engine and parts plant in Osceola, Wisconsin, to open a new facility in Monterrey, Mexico. Officials for Polaris, which makes ATVs, snowmobiles and Victory motorcycles, said the move would allow the company to lower its manufacturing costs and be closer to its customer base.

The plant closure, expected to be complete by 2012, will cost the small town of Osceola at least 515 jobs. The sudden announcement by Polaris elicited “a veritable firestorm of negative comments” from workers, residents and government officials, according to the Inter-County Leader.

Rep. Dave Obey, who helped Polaris secure contracts to provide ATVs to the U.S. military, called the company’s planned move to Mexico “outrageous” and “unpatriotic.”

The newspaper cited comments posted on the Facebook page “Keep Polaris in America” speculating Polaris may have been prompted to shut down the Osceola plant in part because of “local moves discouraging or eliminating ATV riding” on the nonmotorized Amery-Dresser Trail a few miles from the Osceola facility.

top of page