As far as local operations are concerned, United Design has gone full circle.

The company was founded in 1973 by Gary and Jeanie Clinton, who started with a single kiln in a backyard chicken coop. 

They quickly found their niche in sculpting clay figures, and business grew from neighborhood sales to nationwide distribution.

At its peak, the company's work force averaged about 750 employees who did everything from designing, manufacturing and painting the products to marketing and shipping. 

The company expanded sales to Canada, the United Kingdom and China. 

Clinton's philosophy always had been to keep jobs local. 

He could make up for cheaper labor costs overseas through innovations in the production process, he said.

The company was run as a team effort between Gary and Jeanie Clinton for about 25 years. 

The Clintons divorced, and divorced themselves of the company, selling control of its facilities in 1998 to Charterhouse, a New York private equity investment firm.

Gary Clinton said he wasn't surprised that Charterhouse didn't share his manufacturing philosophy. 

Within a few years, the company had moved United Design's entire manufacturing process to China and the Far East. 

Labor is simply cheaper in China, which translates to a lower dollar cost for most U.S. manufacturing companies, Clinton said.

It's tough for America to compete in the manufacturing arena, but not impossible, Clinton said. 

Manufacturing locally gave Clinton more control over the process, and he could easily shift production based on sales trends, he said.

Clinton said he hasn't had contact with the company since he and Jeanie turned over control to Charterhouse, but the company was in a solid financial position at the time of the sale.

Marketing and distribution still were handled through the Noble facility until Charterhouse partnered with the Encore Group to run the warehouse. 

Encore Group produces some lines similar to those created at United Design and had existing facilities for marketing and distribution.

Gardner said those jobs will be consolidated to North Carolina. 

However, about nine product designers will still work for the company from the Oklahoma City area, he said. 

Three or four will relocate to the Winston-Salem, N.C., headquarters.

Goodell said she will still get to do what she loves! 

Others are out of work and some have already found better jobs elsewhere, she said. 

The plant's presence in the community and its familiarity, however, cannot be replaced, she said.