ROSEBURG - Douglas County is trying to figure out what their options are with a chunk of land in in TriCity, after the R-V manufacturer Alfa Leisure suddenly closed down its operations in Ontario, California.

Alfa Leisure bought the 30-plus acres of land in southern Douglas County with plans to put their entire operation there. County officials got the word this week, the company had ceased operations.

Helga Conrad, the Umpqua Economic Development director, said they were stunned when they heard the news.

"I was totally surprised and tried calling the owner of the company and he has not returned my calls. Unfortunately, the RV industry is really taking a big hit these days so I think this is just a casualty in the RV industry. I don't know what their future plans are. We have not had a discussion so its premature to say anything about the company at this time," said Conrad.

Conrad said the land is a significant parcel that is highly desirable as an industrial site.

"I would imagine that if they don't have any plans, that they will release the land. There's only been two payments. If their future plans...if they think the RV industry is coming back in any way shape or form and they want to form a separate company in Oregon I don't know. I need to have those conversations with the company and I have not had that yet."

Conrad says the company brought in an investment firm about 2 years ago, that put $11-million into the business and they owned 51-percent, so they likely are the ones that made the decision to shut down.

There were some tax incentives for building on that site, but county officials say it only applies to Alpha Leisure, so any new deals with another company would have to be renegotiated.

In a story on the rvnewservice.com website, founder and CEO Johnny Crean was quoted as saying, “We gave this company our all, fought tooth and nail and in spite of a Herculean effort, could not overcome the financial headwinds that continue to plague our industry.”

The story said ongoing challenges with key supplier Crane Composites put them in an even worse financial situation.

Crean said “Alfa has been fighting an uphill battle and the final straw was certainly Crane’s unwillingness to stand behind their product.”

Crean said in the story, the company brought in a new management team three months ago, but he said it was too late to save the company. The Crane issue he said, was too much to overcome.

The shutdown put 150 workers out of a job in the Ontario operations.

The article said there are no plans for additional operations and the company shutdown is just one of a growing number of RV manufacturers that have closed their doors.