NATCHEZ — Local efforts to keep Bad Boy Buggies at home could not prevent its new, Georgia-based owners from stopping production in Natchez.

E-Z-Go officials announced Friday all production of Bad Boy Buggies will move to the company’s Augusta, Ga., facility, starting Feb. 1, 2011.

E-Z-Go, a manufacturer in light transportation vehicles owned by Textron, purchased Bad Boy Buggies last month. At the time of the sale, E-Z-Go officials were unsure if the company would keep the Natchez facility open or consolidate production of the 4-wheel electric carts at its Augusta facility.

The 60 employees at the Natchez facility will receive severance packages, with the exception of a few engineering, sales and marketing employees who will remain employed by E-Z-Go, marketing communications Manager Brandon Haddock said.

Former Bad Boy Buggies CEO John Skrabo will now serve as E-Z-Go’s vice president of marketing and sales for Bad Boy Buggies, Haddock said.

Beginning Feb. 1, Haddock said buggy production will “ramp down” in Natchez and “ramp up” in Augusta, and the Natchez facility will officially close its doors sometime in March.

The decision was based on business logistics, Haddock said.

The Augusta facility has the capacity to produce the buggies and E-Z-Go officials could not justify paying duplicate costs of operating a separate facility in Natchez.

“I would like offer thanks on behalf of the company to our employees in Natchez, Haddock said.

“This decision is not a reflection of their capabilities or their pride in the work that they do, it is simply the reality of the business situation.”

Natchez, Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ said Adams County and Mississippi did not “go down without a fight.”

Russ the county and state compiled an aggressive incentive packaged to lure E-Z-Go into staying in Natchez.

“(The package was) something we felt — and the state felt — was going to be a hard decision for E-Z-Go to walk away from,” Russ said.

The Adams County Board of Supervisors, Mississippi Economic Development Authority and Natchez, Inc. worked together to compile the incentive package, Russ said.

The package included the building of a new 61,000 square foot facility on a 17-acre tract of land near the airport, which the county owns and would have leased to E-Z-Go for “well below market rate,” Russ said.

Haddock said E-Z-Go was impressed with the package.

“The State of Mississippi and Adams County really put together a very strong offer to us, but (it) just made overwhelming business sense to bring (productions) to Augusta,” Haddock said.

Russ said E-Z-Go’s Augusta facility is comprised of 500,000 square feet, with approximately half of the space available, compared to the 61,000 square feet Adams County was able to include in the offer.

Russ said operating out of one facility, E-Z-Go will not have to buy duplicate amounts of equipment or hire two plant managers, for instance.

“Once you start looking at all of that combined, the numbers get out of whack for us — long-term operating costs eat up incentive costs,” Russ said.

Haddock said severance packages will include a three-weeks-pay retention bonus for employees who remain through the targeted exit date, plus one week’s pay for each year the employee worked at Bad Boy Buggies.

Employees will also be paid for unused vacation time and will receive benefits for one month beyond their exit date.

Russ said a Rapid Response Team from the state Employment Security Commission will begin helping Bad Boy Buggies employees find new jobs, and the laid off employees can also receive assistance at the Natchez WIN Job Center.

“My thoughts and prayers are with those employees at this time as they get this difficult news,” Russ said.