Vt. Castings
Extends Layoffs
Through May

Vermont Castings had more bad news for its employees and central Vermont last week, when it announced its manufacturing plants in Randolph and Bethel will shut down through most of April and May.

"Business continues to be very soft from all perspectives," plant manager Dale Trombley explained this week.

"As a result, in order to let inventory run down, we have chosen to reduce foundry and Bethel operations in April and May."

The foundry, located in Randolph, is operating this week and then will shut down through May. The assembly plant in Bethel will operate another week and then also shut down through May.

Roughly 150 people will be affected by the layoffs, or virtually the entire Vermont Castings workforce.

The enameling operation in Bethel will stay open a little longer, Trombley said, putting the final touches on electric hand-drier covers.

Earlier, the second shift at the foundry had been shut down, and those 31 workers were told their jobs might return in April, but now that will not happen. The 26 weeks of unemployment benefits have almost come to an end for those workers.

The company will continue to pay health benefits for laid-off workers, but it will ask the workers to pay that back when they come back to work. The firm pays 82% of health insurance costs.

Trombley said that sales are down for Vermont Castings stoves, and at the same time there has been a drop-off of outside orders for foundry jobs. The foundry’s regular production of cast iron skillets, for instance, has dried up until the fall. Other foundry business also came from outside stove manufacturers, but their sales are down, too.

"The economy in general has gotten people very nervous," he said. "Our dealers report a good traffic of lookers, but purchases are slow."

Vermont Castings stoves continue to be popular in Europe, he noted, but deliveries will not be until late summer and fall.

Trombley praised his work force, saying that "Our people have been astoundingly excellent as far as productivity goes.

"We will work through it," he predicted. "It’s one of the toughest (downturns) that we’ve seen, but we will work through it."