Consolidated Metco Inc. plans to close a plastics injection molding plant and lay off employees at its two other plastics facilities.
The Portland firm cited a slowdown in heavy-truck manufacturing. The affected plants mainly make dashboards and instrument panels for major truck companies such as Freightliner LLC and Kenworth Truck Co., but also do other custom molding.
ConMet said it will close its Cashiers, N.C., plant in March, eliminating 26 jobs. It also will cut as many as 50 jobs at its 143-employee Canton, N.C., operation and 114 jobs at Bryson City, N.C., where it recently employed 452.
ConMet human resources manager Neal Van Houten said exact layoff figures hinge on market conditions. The layoffs will occur over the next few weeks. He said in a telephone interview his company is hopeful large-truck production will rebound in mid-2008.
The Cashiers plant originally was slated to close early last year, but work volumes spurred the firm to keep it open until now.
ConMet's molding sales were an estimated $85 million for the year ended Sept. 30, 2005, according to Plastics News' ranking.
