Hopkins Manufacturing, the Emporia, Kansas, maker of the Brake Buddy portable towed vehicle brake and other towing parts and accessories, has permanently closed.
First Brands Group, Hopkins’ parent company, told the Kansas Department of Commerce that the company permanently closed on Monday. First Brands laid off 118 workers at Hopkins’ Kansas plant. An additional 12 workers who are winding down operations will be fired by April 30.
“The company has gone to great lengths to avoid closing this facility,” the company wrote to the Department of Commerce. “Many potential bidders were interested in continuing the Hopkins business …. In recent weeks, one specific bidder had come forward with a bid that would have allowed operations to continue.”
First Brands said the bidder had suddenly withdrawn the bid last week. The company said it attempted to find additional bidders, but no viable interest emerged.
“Regrettably, in the absence of a sale,” First Brands said, “the company does not have access to capital markets or cash reserves that would allow operations to continue.”
Hopkins Manufacturing was founded in 1953 by E.L. “Bud” and R.E. “Gene” Hopkins. The company was sold to private-equity group Oncap in 2011. First Brands bought Hopkins in late 2023.
