Briggs & Stratton shuts down Tennessee plant

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Engine maker Briggs & Stratton Corp. says it will close a plant in Tennessee and shift the work to Georgia, eliminating about 690 jobs, and shutter a Czech factory.

The move reflects, in part, sharp declines in the U.S. lawn and garden market. Briggs & Stratton makes lawnmowers, generators and engines.

The company says closing the Czech plant will cut 77 jobs there. It's shifting that work to a Kentucky factory.

Its Poplar Bluff, Mo., plant will also reduce capacity, but the company says it doesn't expect significant employment changes there.

Briggs & Stratton says it expects to save $18 million to $20 million a year from the actions.

The Milwaukee company also says it earned a fiscal second-quarter profit, reversing a year-ago loss.