Big Reunion Planned for Nevamar Workers

It’s nearly impossible to walk down the street in Odenton without meeting someone who once worked at the old Nevamar plant.

Longtime residents are happy to tell stories of working alongside their fathers, brothers, sisters and neighbors inside the beige buildings that line the east side of Telegraph Road.

The laminate tile manufacturing facility closed in 2003, putting more than 300 workers out of a job, but a group of former employees will gather on Oct. 22 for a reunion at in Gambrills.

“It was fun to work there, because everyone knew everyone else,” said Jim Hopkins, who worked at Nevamar for 17 years and is organizing the reunion. “I always called it the Nevamar Family.”

Hopkins started working there when he was 18 in the shipping department. His father worked at the plant for 43 years, while his sister and brother each worked there for more than 20.

Nevamar was a place where people worked hard but also had fun, said Hopkins, who now works as a government contractor and is head of basketball operations for the Bay Area Shuckers basketball team.

“It was the sort of place where we always played practical jokes on each other, but we never forgot that we had a product to put out,” he said.

In many ways, the abandoned Nevamar plant is representative of the shift in the national and local economy, as manufacturing jobs have been made obsolete by technology and a move toward white-collar careers.

There is some lingering bitterness over the plant’s closure, as workers said they felt betrayed by Nevamar management’s choice to move all of its manufacturing to a plant in South Carolina. But Hopkins, who left a few years before the closure, said most people have moved on, and expect even former managers to attend the reunion.

A similar reunion last year drew more than 75 people. Hopkins said he expects more than 200 this time around.

The reunion comes at a time when the Nevamar site may finally be get new life after years of neglect.

Developer Stonebridge/Carras intends to redevelop the 55-acre property with a mix of apartments, retail and office space. The first phase of the project, known as Flats 170 at Academy Yards, will consist of 369 apartments by Bozzuto Group and could break ground later this year. 

Hopkins said he would welcome any redevelopment of the site.

“I would love to see them do something with the plot,” he said. “It would really be awesome to see them redevelop the land and make it into something nice. It’s sad to go by there and see all the weeds in the parking lot.”