Company spokesperson says as many as 100 employees will be brought to new facility in Pennsylvania.
by James McEvoy, Managing Editor
BORDENTOWN CITY — Up to 138 employees of the Ocean Spray facility may be laid off in early May, though the company says approximately 100 will be brought over to its new facility in Pennsylvania.
The company announced it would relocate and open a new facility in Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania.
According to February 2014 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice on the State’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development website, up to 138 layoffs are expected and may begin as early as May 2.
As a requirement of the WARN Act, enacted in 1988, employers are required to provide notice 60 days in advance of applicable plant closings and mass layoffs.
Under state law, the notice must be provided to either affected workers or their representatives – such as a labor union – to the state dislocated worker unit and to the appropriate unit of local government.
Kellyanne Dignan, a company spokesperson, confirmed the potential layoffs, though she added up to 100 Bordentown employees “have or will eventually be” relocated to the company’s new Lehigh Valley facility, which is slated for an April 29 grand opening.
”As we ramp up operations in Lehigh Valley this spring, we will begin a ramp down in Bordentown,” Ms. Dignan, said. “We expect some operations and personnel to remain through the summer and have communicated to our employees and local officials that there will be phased layoffs over the next six or so months.
”We made the notice because the first of the planned 138 layoffs could start as early as May 2,” she added, noting the first layoffs would impact between two and three employees.
Even with the April 29 grand opening, Ms. Dignan said the company would still be producing products in Bordentown, “as it will take several months” for Lehigh Valley to ramp up production.
”We remain committed to working with all our employees through this transition,” she said.
The company is currently in the process of hiring approximately 90 new employees from the Lehigh Valley area, she said.”Major construction has been completed on the facility and we are in the midst of commissioning that plant. This means we are testing both equipment and process,” she said.
According to Ocean Spray’s website, the 62-acre property on East Park Street opened its 500,000-square-foot juice-bottling and manufacturing plant in 1943.