NC automotive parts plant to shut down, leaving large gap in rural Roxboro

After three decades, a manufacturing mainstay outside the small North Carolina city of Roxboro will close by the end of the year, affecting at least 247 workers in the rural community north of Durham and Orange counties.

GKN Driveline opened its automotive technology plant in January 1994, around the unincorporated town of Timberlake. Following a pair of expansions, GKN had become the largest private employer in Person County. Its loss will be profoundly felt, said Gordon Powell, chair of the Person County Commissioners, who called the company “a very integral and important corporate citizen.”