Briggs & Stratton Corporation (NYSE:BGG) announced that the Company will temporarily shut down its production facility in McDonough, Georgia in order to reduce inventory levels of lawn and garden products that are produced at the facility. Market demand for lawn and garden equipment remains soft as a result of the ongoing drought that is affecting a large portion of the United States since May 2012.

Production will be suspended from October 29^th to November 25, 2012; however, shipments of products and service parts to customers will continue during this time. Plant personnel will also utilize the shutdown period to complete the movement of certain equipment from the Company’s recently closed Newbern, TN facility into the McDonough plant and to re-tool for new products for spring production. 

Approximately 340 hourly employees and 200 temporary employees will be temporarily laid off during this plant shutdown. The Company does not anticipate that this temporary plant shutdown will have a significant impact its previously announced estimates for fiscal year 2013 net income of $60 to $75 million, or $1.25 to $1.55 per diluted share.

Briggs & Stratton Corporation, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the world’s largest producer of gasoline engines for outdoor power equipment. Its wholly owned subsidiary Briggs & Stratton Power Products Group LLC is North America’s number one manufacturer of portable generators and pressure washers, and is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of standby generators, along with lawn and garden and turf care through its Simplicity, Snapper, Ferrisand Murray brands.  Briggs & Stratton products are designed, manufactured, marketed and serviced in over 100 countries on six continents.