BREWSTER HASTINGS TO CLOSE AGUADILLA PLANT.

Increased labor costs and the loss of the Section 936 tax break have forced Brewer Hastings Corp. to close its Aguadilla apparel plant (230 workers, mostly women) after more than a decade in Puerto Rico, says company President David Shulevitz, reports The San Juan Star (January 28, 1999): "The recent substantial increase in the minimum wage, the reduction of 936 tax benefits and the fact that all of my competitors have moved to lower cost locations make it impossible for me to compete," said Shulevitz; "The desire of the Governor for Puerto Rico to be a state is, unfortunately, making it very hard for our industry to remain in Puerto Rico," he added. He said that work performed by the plant will now be contracted out to firms in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Mexico; About a dozen apparel manufacturers have closed shop on the island in the past year. The six largest of those eliminated some 2,500 jobs. One promising area of the apparel sector continues to be Federal Government contracts, because they require a "Made in U.S.A." label, for which Puerto Rico qualifies. A "significant expansion" in apparel job commitments (around 2,000) was expected in late February, says a Government official, who declined to name the company.