VONORE-The recent announcement that Sea Ray is closing its Knoxville plant isn't expected to have an immediate impact on the Vonore location.

The company recently announced it would shutter the Knoxville operation and consolidate the jobs in Vonore and Palm Coast, Florida.

Andrew E. Graves, president of the Brunswick Boat Group, said in a statement, "We will consolidate our U.S. cruiser production for Sea Ray into the Vonore and Palm Coast facilities while producing Bayliner cruisers in Brazil. This will be more efficient and still allow us to retain capacity equal to three times our current worldwide cruiser demand, enabling us to adequately increase production when the market improves."

See full story in the Sunday, Oct. 14, edition of The Advocate & Democrat.