Despite revenue growth, Quick Mount PV to let 40 employees go and shutter California manufacturing

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Quick Mount PV, a residential rooftop solar racking company, plans to close its approximately 40-person factory in Walnut Creek, California at the end of this year — moving its manufacturing operation to China, according to sources close to the company.

Stijn Vos, CEO of ​Esdec, Quick Mount’s parent company, confirmed the move.

Quick Mount was acquired by Netherlands-based Esdec last year in a roll-up of U.S. racking companies. Esdec also acquired racking companies IronRidge and EcoFasten at undisclosed prices to gain a reported 60% share of the nation’s residential racking market.

Business for Quick Mount seems to be going well. According to equities analyst Roth Capital Partners in its most recent industry note, Quick Mount’s revenue is growing 70% year-over-year. Last year, the firm doubled its annual production capacity to 1.2 gigawatts.

So why leave sunny California?

No longer made in the USA

The CEO told pv magazine:

QuickMount PV is now part of Esdec’s global supply chain which gives the Esdec companies stability and flexibility. Products are sourced from all over the world including the U.S.A. The Walnut Creek facility only performs a portion of the manufacturing steps for some of the QM products. Many manufacturing operations were already outside the capability of the Walnut Creek facility, requiring a contract manufacturing partner.

Many of our current manufacturing partners are based in the U.S. and North America, and we will continue to source from these partners going forward. But as a global company, we are working hard to create a globally diversified supply chain with multiple qualified suppliers for each component. Having partners in multiple geographic regions allows us to ensure the integrity and continuity of supply, especially during dynamic times like these. The solid results over the first six months of 2020 confirm that all companies within Esdec solar group perform well and benefit from our reliable supply chain.

The company’s website includes this language at the time of publishing.

  • “Since the founding of the company in 2006, “Made in the USA” has become the central policy behind Quick Mount PV’s ongoing efforts to bring job growth, security and sustainability to our environment, our economy, and the energy industry.”
  • “Quick Mount PV takes great pride in manufacturing in America and in the state of California, and the jobs we create here are an integral part of our success.”

Quick Mount was one of a small number of solar companies that manufacture in-house in the U.S.

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