WILIAMSPORT — Getting Shop Vac Corp. employees to return to work is key to the new company owner’s plans to reinvigorate manufacturing of the brand’s famous canister vacuum.

Shop Vac, which terminated the bulk of its 400 employees in the Williamsport area in mid-September after a proposed sale of the global manufacturer fell through, is being bought by a publicly traded corporation that has operations in a number of countries.

The group specializes in the manufacturing of hand tools.

The acquisition, finalized the day before Christmas, complements what the new owner already produces as none of their facilities manufacture a container vacuum, according to Jason Fink, CEO of the Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

The new owner is scheduled to issue a press release on its purchase, and presumably its plans, today. Fink said he could not identify the owner as they will reveal their plans.

“A press release by the buyer will (offer) full details on the company purchasing Shop Vac along with associated information on the acquisition,” Fink said.

The new owner “shared that it intends to keep the operations here in Williamsport and is looking to bring back employees quickly to allow for them to ramp up production,” he told the Williamsport Sun-Gazette newspaper.

“Given what they (new owner’s) make and who they sell to, retailers including Lowe’s and Home Depot, they believe they’ll be in a good position to re-establish Shop Vac with the retail community,” Fink said.

Shop Vac didn’t completely shut down.

“The company was finishing orders when the sale was finalized. However, to quickly reestablish the brand with retailers, they realize they need to get people back to work as quickly as possible. This has been a key item for them from their initial plant tour in early October,” he emphasized.

Indeed, Fink said the local operation’s future depends on Shop Vac workers returning.

“A key concern of theirs has been being able to keep the employees as they view them as key to making this a quick turnaround,” he said.

Fink also the new owner will reveal how former employees can contact the firm and indicated protocols are in place already for that.

The company toured the plant in October with the Chamber, representatives of Shop Vac and Hilco (the firm handling the sale on behalf of JP Morgan).They, along with others, submitted bids to purchase it on Nov. 12. The sale was finalized earlier on Dec. 24.

In their announcement today, the new owner is expected to address “intentions here and the goal to get Shop Vac quickly back to being the top brand in canister vacuums,” Fink added.

Leading up to the Sept. 15 notice of termination to most employees, the company had been run by Felice Miller, 41, who was named president and COO just over a year ago. But reports indicate she had left town. She was the daughter of Shop Vac’s chief executive, Jonathan Miller, 72, whose father had founded the company in 1953. Jonathan Miller also had left town. Both live on the West Coast.

Amid their departure, the family left questions about the company’s future.

The Millers relied on their head of human resources to inform most of the approximately 437 employees at Williamsport that their jobs were terminated. The company offered to retain some employees to fill outstanding orders through the end of October. Those who declined said the offer included a pledge to not sue the company for failing to give 60 days’ notice about layoffs.

Employees picketed outside the firm’s 236,000-square-foot headquarters and production plant in the Williamsport Industrial Park on Sept. 28

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Shop Vac owed about $47 million to its bank, JP Morgan, and hired Getzler Henrich & Associates LLC, a New York turnaround consultant that works with distressed companies, according to sources who were not authorized to speak about the company.

Shop Vac’s troubles were exacerbated last year when the company shut down a warehouse in New York state, leading to lost orders. Its manufacturer in China went on strike, presumably after finding out the firm was looking to move operations elsewhere in Asia.

Shop Vac employed about 1,700 people worldwide.