Bennington County layoffs multiply
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Toolbox
By PATRICK McARDLE Herald Staff - Published: January 7, 2009
BENNINGTON — Three Bennington County manufacturers have laid off a significant percentage of their staffs, stretching back to October and as recently as Monday.
NSK Steering Systems America has laid off about 200 employees, including hourly workers and salaried employees, since October, according to Gregory Laurin, human resources manager for the company.
Berenstein Display, a company that manufactures mannequins in Shaftsbury, laid off about 30 workers from a total of about 100 employees just before Thanksgiving, according to a company shareholder.
The president of Vermont Composites said on Tuesday 28 employees, about 10 percent of its employees, were laid off on Monday.
Laurin said NSK had now been through five waves of layoffs, all of them in reaction to a reduction in customer orders.
In mid-October, NSK laid off 10 employees; in November a layoff of 20 employees was followed by a lay-off of 30; in December, 50 employees were laid off on Dec. 12 and another 51 on Dec. 19. About 20 other salaried positions have been eliminated.
Laurin said the plant, which manufactures parts for steering columns, still had 325 employees.
The third shift at NSK has been eliminated for the most part with only a handful of employees working then.
NSK is currently operating a single shift to manufacture parts for Nissan and a second line, making parts for the Toyota Camry, is expected to begin next week.
The line for Mercedes-Benz, NSK's third regular customer, is scheduled to return to production on Jan. 20, which Laurin said may allow NSK to bring some employees back.
According to Laurin, employees have been laid off — and are expected to be rehired — according to seniority. Employees still at the plant have been with the company since 2000.
Anthony Tripoli, one of the shareholders in Berenstein Display, said the company had to lay off about 30 employees.
"Currently, we don't see a timeframe where we'll be calling them back," he said.
Tripoli said customers had been talking about ordering more products in 2009, but those orders have not yet been placed.
In 2005, Berenstein Display moved its operations from New York to Vermont. Tripoli said basically everything is done now in Vermont.
The company took over a site that had been unused since its days as a manufacturing site for Stanley Tools.
Patrick Wheeler, president of Vermont Composites, said the company had laid off 20 full-time employees and eight part-time employees because of timing.
Vermont Composites manufactures parts using carbon composite materials for two fields, aerospace and medical or industrial uses. For aerospace, Vermont Composites manufactures parts for reconnaissance, surveillance and other nonmilitary purposes, according to Wheeler.
The company usually has a number of multi-year contracts, but Wheeler said for the first four to five months of 2009, orders were down.
However, Wheeler said orders in 2008 had increased to $25 million from 2007 when orders were $20 million and Vermont Composites is expected to continue to show growth in 2009.
Wheeler said he hoped Vermont Composites would be able to rehire some of the 28 employees in the second half of 2009.
The manufacturer hired 23 new employees last year, Wheeler said.
NSK, a company which started in Japan, has another manufacturing plant in Tennessee, which Laurin said has not seen any layoffs but hasn't seen any growth either, according to Laurin.
According to Laurin, NSK has done as much as possible to alert employees to pending layoffs. He said they have also encouraged laid-off workers to keep their uniforms and employee badges as a sign that the manufacturer hopes to bring them back.
Contact Patrick McArdle at patrick.mcardle@rutlandherald.com.
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