Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
California: San Francisco based “creative agency” Goodby Silverstein & Partners laying off an undisclosed number of people in The Golden State and New York. In Burbank, god refused to stop Obama Care from shutting down ‘his’ Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center blood donor service, 34 jobs lost. State employment administrators stopped posting WARNs on 21 May.
Colorado: Boulder based Fresh Produce women’s clothing chain shutting down 12 stores in six states, as part of their chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Florida: Clothier Izod shutdown its Palm Beach Gardens store, then announced their Palm Beach Outlets store will shutdown in June. It’s part of the parent company’s plan to shutdown 1-hundred Izod stores! After 43 years Brasington’s Adventure Outfitters shutdown. The owner said 2008, the year of the start of the recession, was their best year but then sales crashed and never recovered. In Jacksonville, after 30 years Benny’s Sandwich Shop shutdown due to the owner’s health problems. State employment administrators stopped posting WARNs on 15 May.
Illinois: In Granite City, US Steel has suspended its plans to shutdown its Granite City Works factory. Instead, 80 employees will be laid off.
Indiana: Muncie Community Schools warned of layoffs, even after selling off their Wilson Junior High School building. Administrators said that because of what I call Disappearing Student Syndrome, and years of consolidation ops, their Central High School is now overstaffed. In Richmond, after 27 years Optical Disc Solutions has been sold to WTS Media and will be shutdown.
Iowa: In Davenport, the more than 20 years old Flowerama store shutdown. The parent company, Flowerama of America, was taken over by 1-800-Flowers in 2011.
Kansas: Kansas City Public Schools laid off 31 employees and cut pay for hundreds of others, blaming $2-million USD in state taxpayer funding cuts.
Maryland: Baltimore City School District laid off 209 employees! Administrators blame a $108-million shortfall. Restaurant Langermann’s of Baltimore now chapter 11 bankrupt busted. Owners blame ‘Freddie Gray’ social unrest as the final straw in their ongoing financial nightmare. In Frederick, God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ 1-hundred years old Saint Timothy’s Episcopal Church. Attendance was down to less than 13 per week, and administrators said “They were just not going to be able to pay their bills.”
Massachusetts: In Cambridge, the award winning Hungry Mother restaurant being shutdown in July due to one of the co-owners leaving, and the other co-owners deciding to try something else.
Michigan: The Garden City School Board laid off 46 teachers, blaming Disappearing Student Syndrome (DSS) for putting the district into a $4-million hole. Marshall Public Schools laid off eight people. Another seven employees are being pushed into retirement. Administrators say enrollment is fine and blame the layoffs on state taxpayer funding cuts and the loss of grant money.
Minnesota: State administrators warned 9-thousand 5-hundred state employees that their jobs are on the chopping block! Local news reports said Democrats called it a “bad day”, while Republicans called it a “good day”! It’s what I call a Failed State! Minneapolis based Too Big to Jail US Bank (Bancorp) warned of mass layoffs if the Federal Reserve failed to jack up interests rates.
New Jersey: Sussex County Community College eliminating 11 jobs. Administrators blame a new $3-million renovation project for the Student Center, and five years of DSS. They expect to lose $1.2-million in the upcoming school year due to crashing student enrollment.
New York: The largest Too Big to Jail bank in the U.S., NYC based JP Morgan Chase, began mass layoffs across the country that will total more than 5-thousand by the end of 2016! In Commack, import/export company CBC America issued a WARN saying they are joining the exodus from The Empire State. 46 jobs to be moved to North Carolina by the end of the year. At John F. Kennedy International Airport, Envoy Air issued a mass layoff WARN saying 693 jobs will be lost as they join the exodus from The Empire State and move ops to Texas and Illinois! The Commission on Economic Opportunity issued a WARN saying they are shutting down their Stepping Stones Two childcare center in Rensselaer, 34 jobs lost in August.
North Carolina: In Winston-Salem, after almost four years District Roof Top Bar & Grille shutdown, the owners blame the un-recovered economy: “It takes time, resources and a bit of luck to establish a restaurant. In our case it was just one winter season too many.”-Mark Skoggard, co-owner
North Dakota: Texas based Warren Buffet owned BNSF Railway began furloughing employees due to crashing demand for North Dakota Oil Patch shipments by rail. In Fargo, Case IH and New Holland farm equipment maker CNH Industrial laid off 38 people. Back in February they laid off 80 employees. In 2014 they laid off 40 people.
Oklahoma: In Tulsa, after nearly 80 years Triplets children’s shoe store shutdown.
Pennsylvania: Connellsville Area School District laid off 40 teachers. What I call Disappearing Student Syndrome (DSS) is the cause. Reporters with WPXI did some math and discovered that the district lost 1-thousand 3-hundred students in the past ten years! In Gettysburg, after 33 years Wentz Stained Glass Studio shutdown.
South Carolina: After 95 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Pruitt’s Grocery shutdown due to the owner’s poor health.
Virginia: In Orange, after 19 years the Dairy Korner Restaurant shutdown.
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”