WATERVILLE, Maine (AP) — A central Maine manufacturer of precision parts for the aerospace, defense and oil industries is cutting 70 workers and consolidating its Waterville and Winslow facilities.
Midstate Berkshire, based in Westfield, said the cuts are necessary because of a downturn in the company’s key markets and an effort to remain competitive.
CEO Duane Pekar says the company has seen a 30 percent decrease in key markets over the past year.
Pekar said he was confident that with the reductions and other cost-cutting measures, the company will be positioned for growth when market conditions improve.
The company had about 250 workers in Maine.
In January 2014, the company was acquired by a Texas-based private equity firm, Insight Equity Holdings LLC.
According to The Portland Press Herald, it was a move that came as a surprise to the Mid Maine Chamber of Commerce, which had been working with the company to help develop its labor force, chamber President and CEO Kim Lindlof said last night.
The company, which employed 250 workers in the two communities, intends to consolidate its Waterville, Maine, operation into the Winslow, Maine, plant by the end of the year, according to The Portland Press Herald. The layoffs represent about 30 percent of the company’s workforce.
Lindlof told The Portland Press Herald the chamber had been working with the company on programs to help develop its labor force with things like apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.
“We had no idea this was coming. We’ve been working with them on workforce development issues,” she said.
Waterville City Council Chairman Fred Stubbert, D-Ward 1, told The Portland Press Herald last nght he was surprised to learn about the layoffs. He said the layoffs are hopefully a short-term move, since the economy has been improving as a whole.
“The Waterville area is starting to pick up,” he said. “We’re going in the right direction.”
“One of the things we’re trying to do is actually attract more businesses like that to the area,” he said, noting the area has workers skilled in metal work and manufacturing.
Lindlof said there are other companies in the area that need the skills that Midstate employees have, and her organization could help connect those who were laid off with other employers.
“It’s obviously a setback, but we’re hopeful that if we’re invited to the table with those companies, we’ll be able to connect them with those displaced employees,” said Lindlof.
