LDI Composites Co. has laid off 34 at its GeoDeck wood-plastic composite decking plant in Green Bay, Wis., responding to the market's downturn.
``It's probably something we should have addressed a while ago, but were hoping we would see a good spring,'' said Lanny Jass, GeoDeck general manager, in an April 11 telephone interview. ``As anyone in the industry will tell you, that's not really happening, certainly on the composite decking side. We're really getting the plant staffed at the right size.''
GeoDeck extrudes composite decking from high density polyethylene and a proprietary byproduct from the paper-making process, a material called Biodac.
The 130,000-square-foot Green Bay plant still has 21 employees, and operates 24 hours a day, five days a week, Jass said.
New Hope-based LDI is an affiliate of Liberty Diversified Industries Inc., a private holding company near Minneapolis that also owns firms in packaging, materials handling, office supplies and furniture industries.
The company has hired five salesmen and plans to continue to expand it sales force, Jass said.
``Our activities are based on continuing to grow this business,'' he said. ``We think there's absolutely a future here.''