Gibson temporarily closes US operations to help fight coronavirus
Guitar giant provides financial support to all factory workers
Gibson has announced the temporary closure of its US operations due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nashville mayor John Cooper issued a 14-day Safer At Home Order on March 22 for the closure of all non-essential businesses. Gibson, whose operations are based in the city, aligned with the request, and also took the preventative step to temporarily close its acoustic guitar facility in Bozeman, Montana as well, despite no government order being issued there.
The Gibson Headquarters Team in Nashville will work remotely in order to provide continued service.
Additionally, Gibson will provide its hourly factory workers with support in the form of a $1,000 payment, as well as through the establishment of various communication platforms to keep its employees informed of the ongoing situation.
“At the early stages of this unfortunate and ever-evolving situation, we took a proactive approach to monitoring and prioritizing the health and safety of our entire team around the world,” said Gibson CEO James “JC” Curleigh.
“I am proud of the way our teams have responded and we now shift our focus to supporting each other to get through this together.”
To date, Gibson reports zero cases of coronavirus across its employee base.
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The company says it “will continue to monitor and assess the situation and will keep the extended partnership base of employees, dealers, suppliers, and others informed accordingly.”
For more information, head to Gibson.
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Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.