Flexible and rigid packaging maker Printpack Inc. is closing the company's manufacturing plant in North Carolina, a move that could impact nearly 100 workers.
The Atlanta-based company has told state officials layoffs involving 90 positions in Hendersonville will be complete by Dec. 31, but also indicated certain employees will be offered jobs at other Printpack locations.
"These are never easy decisions, and we recognize the detrimental impact to our associates and their families," Chief Operating Officer Jack Austin said in a statement.
Printpack previously had indicated the flexible packaging plant would close in 2012, but ultimately reversed course and kept the facility open.
"We originally announced the closing of this facility over 11 years ago but decided against it due to changing conditions at the time. Today, declining customer demand made this decision unavoidable," Austin said.
Printpack said the non-union workers will receive a severance package that includes outplacement assistance as well as "a continuation of health care benefits."
"Printpack is offering limited opportunities to impacted employees to transfer to other locations based upon current jobs and skills and the need for those roles in other locations," the company said in a letter to the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
Companies with larger workforces are required to provide 60 days' notice of layoffs under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, a law created after mass layoffs occurred in the 1980s without warning. This gives workers more time to prepare and find new jobs.
Companies with at least 100 full-time workers that are laying off at least 50 people at a single site of employment are covered under the WARN Act.
While Printpack provided a list of job descriptions as part of the company's WARN letter to North Carolina, the firm did not indicate in the letter which positions are eligible for transfer to another company facility.
"Our associates in Hendersonville demonstrated admirable loyalty and commitment and we thank them for all they have done," Austin said.
A May 2012 story in Plastics News indicated plans to close the Hendersonville site and move production to a new facility in Rhineland, Wis. At the time, the Hendersonville plant had 115 workers.
Core markets for Printpack, which also makes specialty rigid packaging, include coffee and tea, confectionery, fresh produce, pet food, salty snack and snack bar markets. The company also makes medical packaging.
Privately held Printpack ranks No. 7 in the most recent Plastics News list of film and sheet makers in North America, with estimated sales of $1.3 billion. The company also is No. 22 in the Plastics News ranking of thermoformers in North America with estimated sales of $155 million.