UPDATE 1:15 P.M. Indeed the speculation is correct. A Kinedyne official has confirmed the company has decided to close its Lawrence production plant later this year.

In response to questions from the Journal-World, New Jersey-based Kinedyne released a statement saying the company has made a decision to transfer its Lawrence manufacturing facilities to a Kinedyne plant in Prattville, Ala. The company expects 23 Lawrence-based production and warehouse workers will lose their jobs by late 2015. An undisclosed number of administrative and office workers are expected to remain in Lawrence through December 2016, but those positions also will be phased out. The company said “many employees” were offered the chance to transfer to Prattville, and “some have accepted the opportunity to relocate.”

The news marks an end for a longtime Lawrence manufacturer. Kinedyne has been in Lawrence since 1989 when it bought the Lawrence-based Aeroquip Corporation. The company has become a leader in the manufacturing of cargo straps, winches and other devices used by shippers and cargo haulers.

“The decision to close the Lawrence-based business was absolutely no reflection of the employees or the work they produced,” the company said in its statement. “The decision was based upon factual data and a business need to have all of our manufacturing in one location.”

I’ll bring your more details as I sort through them.

Earlier post:
• I’m definitely working to get more information on possible changes to a major employer at the East Hills Business Park. For several weeks now I have been hearing speculation that Kinedyne, a manufacturer of cargo straps and other devices for the shipping industry, may be shifting some production away from its longtime Lawrence plant. I’ve been working to get confirmation from the company for the last several weeks. I still don’t have that confirmation, but I was successful in making contact with company leaders yesterday. They told me they are preparing a response, which indicates to me that it is a situation economic development leaders will want to keep an eye on.

Kinedyne has been a longtime presence in the manufacturing sector in Lawrence. It was one of the first companies to locate in the East Hills Business Park when it opened in 1989. The company has its production plant in the building that sits right at the entrance to the business park. I’m not certain of employee totals at the plant currently, but the Economic Development Corporation of Lawrence & Douglas County lists the local plant with 93 employees.

In other news and notes from around town:

Lawrence’s health care industry is set to become even more focused on the area near Fourth and Maine streets. I’ve gotten confirmation that the Heartland Community Health Center is moving from its longtime home in the former Riverfront mall to space across the street from Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

Heartland has signed a deal to locate in about 10,000 square feet of space in the Medical Arts building on the northeast corner of Fourth and Maine, said Sean Hatch, communications coordinator for the not-for-profit health clinic.

“It is exciting for us for so many reasons,” Hatch said. “It gives us a prominent location and will offer greater access for patients.”

The new location is not only across the street from LMH, but basically is next door to the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and a host of other medical providers.

“We receive a lot of referrals from those places,” Hatch said “And now when we refer people to LMH for lab work, it will just be across the street.”

Heartland provides primary care services to patients without insurance, but also acts as an affordable care provider for patients who do have insurance. It also operates a food pantry and utility assistance program out of its offices, and has partnerships with Bert Nash to provide mental health care as part of the primary medical care it provides to patients. Last year the center had about 9,000 patient encounters, and Hatch said the clinic’s patient volumes have climbed every month thus far in 2015.

Hatch said the clinic plans to make the move in early July. The renovation work will take place in phases. When completed, the center will occupy 10,000 square feet of space for its clinic and administrative offices. That’s up from about 7,000 square feet of space the clinic had on the ground floor of the Riverfront building.

Full disclosure: The Riverfront building is owned by a group led by members of the Simons family, which owns the Journal-World and LJWorld.com.

• Here’s something for you to really gnash your teeth about. Lawrence has landed on another ranking list, and I don’t know how we’ll ever be able to show our faces again. The personal finance website WalletHub — in its efforts to make sure we understand the complex beast known as the economy — has done a study to rank . . . the best cities for baseball fans. I know I’ve certainly made many a personal finance decision wishing I had better information about that very subject.

Well, now I’m beginning to rethink my choices in life because Lawrence ranks a stinking 155th out of 272 communities that were ranked. Folks, that’s a little bit less than average.

I don’t know what to do about this. I know Lawrence has given baseball many chances. But the ball doesn’t bounce worth a darn on the hardwood court; it is very difficult to rebound when it comes off the glass backboard; and when the ball went into the stands one time, I nearly had to fight a guy to get him to give it back.

The ranking primarily focused on communities that have either a major league baseball team or a Division I college baseball team. The good news is that our friends in Kansas City apparently have figured it out better than we have. Kansas City is ranked as the 11th best city for baseball fans in America. Other cities in Kansas seem to be catching on quicker than us as well: Manhattan is tied for 61st and Wichita 98th.

I was pretty concerned about this for awhile, until I saw which city was ranked No. 1: St. Louis. Then I realized maybe this ranking was just a joke. After all, how can a city that gets so excited about a single arch win any type of award? Most every community of a decent size has at least two arches, and they’re golden, and next door to them you can get cheap hamburgers and good French fries. I’ve been to the very top of that single arch in St. Louis, and there were no cheap hamburgers to be found.