Eastlake's Last Brass
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Photo by Alpha Perspective / Unsplash
A plant that has shaped trumpets for sixty years is closing. The owner says America must protect what it makes. Production moves to China.
What's happening
On April 9, 2026, Conn-Selmer filed a WARN notice with the State of Ohio announcing the permanent closure of its Eastlake brass instrument plant on June 30, eliminating all 150 jobs. Workers there have built trumpets, trombones, sousaphones, tubas, and French horns for more than sixty years; 130 of the 150 belong to UAW Local 2359. The company cited losses tied to Asian competition. Professional French horn production moves to Elkhart, Indiana. Tubas, sousaphones, and student horns move to China. Conn-Selmer is owned by billionaire John Paulson, who has publicly defended American manufacturing and hosted a 2024 Trump fundraiser. Representatives Ro Khanna and Shontel Brown wrote the administration calling the closure "particularly troubling." The plant has six weeks left.
What the Text says
When the tabernacle is built in Exodus, the text takes a turn most readers skim past. God names the men who will do the work.
Exodus 31:1-61Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,2"Behold, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:3and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship,4to devise skillful works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,5and in cutting of stones for setting, and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of workmanship.6I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the heart of all who are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded you:
Bezalel and Oholiab are named the way kings are named. The Hebrew word for the gift given to them is chokmah, wisdom, the same word Proverbs uses for the structure of the world. It is poured into them so they can cut stone, hammer metal, set jewels, and carve wood. Skilled handwork is not, in this passage, a lower order of activity. It is the first place in the Torah where God fills a human being with the Spirit by name, and the assignment is craft.
The cultural setting matters. Israel had just come out of forced labor. The first thing the text dignifies on the other side of that exodus is voluntary skilled making, with the maker's name attached. Bezalel is not interchangeable with anyone else. Neither is Oholiab. The text refuses to treat them as units of production.
The reflection
Eastlake has built the instruments American schoolrooms, marching bands, and worship services have played for two generations. The losses Conn-Selmer cites are real. So is the math that says a sousaphone made in Cleveland costs more than a sousaphone made in Shenzhen. Markets sort these questions every day, and most of the time no one notices.
The thing the text notices is the maker. Exodus names Bezalel because the work he does is worth naming. A society that cannot keep the people who shape brass into a trumpet attached to the trumpet is making a quieter trade than it admits. The instruments will still get made. Children will still learn to play them. The names on the bell will stay the same. What changes is who is filled with skill in this account, and whether anyone bothers to write it down.