Brattleboro, VT, July 24--FiberMark Inc. announced Tuesday that it would lay off approximately 100 employees at its U.S. facilities, according to the Brattleboro Reformer.
The company has its corporate headquarters and a manufacturing plant in Brattleboro where it employs approximately 200 people. A company spokeswoman said it was still unclear how many of the cut jobs would be local.
"We are in the process of talking with individual employees on what the impact would be," said Janice Warren.
Jorge Flores, a FiberMark employee and president of the union at the plant--Local 1862 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International-- said management has given him assurances that none of the 145 unionized workers at the Brattleboro facility would be let go.
"They told me that this would not affect the hourly workers," he said. "Some of the cuts may come from management, but we won't really know until Friday."
The company, which produces fiber-based materials ranging from vacuum cleaner bags and base material for specialty tapes to wallpaper, flooring and circuit boards,has seen a recent decline in its U.S. operations while sales for its operations in Germany have been on the upward swing.
The company reported a net loss of $5.4 million for the year's first quarter, although sales for the quarter increased from $97.2 million to $104.7 million over the same time period in 2002.
The shedding of the 100 employees--approximately five percent of FiberMark's 2,000 U.S. workers--will mean an estimated savings of $5 million a year, according to company officials, although the savings won't be reflected in the company's finances until 2004.
"Faced with protracted weak business conditions, we need to further reduce our costs and align our staffing needs with our revenue levels," said Alex Kwader, chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement. "In addition, we continue to pursue a variety of other cost-saving measures to address this challenging economic environment."
No layoffs are planned for the company's facility in Germany, according to company officials, due to the plant's "continued strength in order levels and operational performance."
Sales at the German plant increased in the first quarter from $36.5 million to $44.7 million over the same period last year.
This round of layoffs arrives after more than two years of purchases, expansions, factory closings and layoffs for the company.
In April 2001, FiberMark purchased Rexam Decorative Specialties International for $140 million in cash, its sixth acquisition of another company since 1994.
In August 2001, the company closed its Fitchburg, MA, plant, leaving 100 workers unemployed, as production was shifted to New Jersey. The following month, it sold off its U.S. engine filter media volume at its Rochester, MI, facility to Ahlstrom Corp. for a reported $13.3 million. The Rochester facility closed at the end of 2001.
In August 2002, FiberMark announced it would close its Johnston, RI, facility and expand its Lowville, NY plant at a cost savings of approximately $5 million.
Approximately 15 workers at a plant in Brownville, NY, were let go in April this year, and although the layoffs were called temporary, a company official said unless sales at the plant increased substantially, the jobs would not return.
The past year has also not been kind on FiberMark's stock as it has dropped from $9 in September 2002 to $4.34, a 52-week low, when the markets closed on Monday. In May, the New York Stock Exchange informed the company that the stock's value had fallen below its standard for continued listing and asked for a compliance plan within the next 18 months.
