Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
California: Washington based Haggen Foods issued mass shutdown WARNs for the following locations; 2 stores in Simi Valley, 2 stores in Tustin, 2 stores in Chula Vista, Irvine, Mission Viejo, Santa Clarita Valley (I previously reported on), La Mesa, San Marcos, San Ysidro, Bakersfield (I previously reported) and Los Osos, 620 jobs lost by October! Kroger owned Ralph’s issued shutdown WARNs for their following grocery stores; Hermosa Beach, Santa Ana and Pico Rivera, 210 jobs lost by October! Albertsons-Safeway issued yet another layoff WARN for Pleasanton, and a shutdown WARN for their Walnut Creek grocery store, 1-hundred jobs lost by October! A company that claims to be “…the largest supplier of botanical ingredients in the U.S., for use in dietary supplements, food & beverage, pharmaceuticals, personal care…”, BI NUTRACEUTICALS, issued layoff WARNs for Emeryville and Santa Clara, 79 jobs lost by September. ObamaCare probably was the real reason for two dental companies merging back in May, now Zimmer Biomet Dental issued shutdown WARNs for their Carlsbad ops, 279 jobs lost by the end of October! Mountain View based tech company Intuit eliminating more jobs, this time 249 laid off!
Florida: Too Big to Jail American Express issued a WARN for their Weston office, 86 jobs lost in time for Thanksgiving.
Idaho: The state Department of Insurance has approved ObamaCare (Affordable Care Act) health insurance rate increases by as much as 26% in 2016! It was also revealed that ObamaCare Idaho insurance rates have already gone up by as much as 15%! Health insurance providers claim that they still payout far more than what they get in premium payments under ObamaCare, which means from the insurance industry perspective their own ObamaCare (they wrote the law folks) is a failure! The wimp-ass state Department of Insurance director feebly said “In spite of our best efforts in working with carriers, health insurance rates will be increasing for some Idahoans in 2016….we urge consumers to review their plans and shop wisely…”
Illinois: Heavy vehicle maker Caterpillar killing even more jobs, this time 475 people to become unemployed as sales continue to crash!
Iowa: Unnamed news sources say Dethmers Manufacturing (aka Demco) eliminated a “substantial” number of jobs.
Maine: ObamaCare forcing the new owners of Mid Coast Health Services walk-in medical clinic to shutdown in September. Administrators said ObamaCare is “…realigning health care services.”
Maryland: Sears Holdings revealed they will shutdown their California Kmart right before Thanksgiving, 71 jobs lost.
Montana: Slow internet service provider CenturyLink shutting down their Kalispell retail store in September.
New York: Sears Holdings revealed they will shutdown their Appliance Repair Division in Melville, 31 jobs lost in time for Thanksgiving. What construction industry recovery? San Mateo Construction is closing up shop in White Plains after losing their contract with utility con artist ConEd, 90 jobs lost by the end of the month. Sterling National Bank issued WARNs for several offices, at least 11 jobs lost right before Xmas. In Brooklyn, after six years Bergen Street Comics shutting down in September. The owner refused to comment to news media, but there are reports that rents in that neighborhood have gone through the roof. Taxpayer rip-off artist NRG Energy finally shutting down the money-pit Huntley coal fired electricity power plant, 90 jobs lost in 2016. It was revealed the power plant has lost millions of dollars over several decades! NRG Energy will also idle their Dunkirk power plant in January 2016.
North Carolina: After 115 years (surviving The Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) God refuses to stop the shutdown of ‘his’ Sutton Park Baptist Church. Because of The Rapture, I mean declining membership, there are only about 18 members left. But maybe it’s racism, after all the remaining members are ‘white’ and apparently no ‘black’ or ‘brown’ people want to join the church, according to local news reports.
Ohio: ObamaCare(?) forced taxpayer funded Ashtabula County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to layoff 17 people and reduce working hours for others. Fluor BWXT warned 1-thousand 4-hundred people of mass layoffs at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant uranium decontamination operation in Piketon! 570 could be let go by 01 October! Flour BWXT administrators blame a lack of taxpayer funding. In Huber Heights, after six years Granny C’s Bakery shutting down due to skyrocketing operating costs: “A lot of my good friends, who’ve worked for me and who are still here are going to be jobless. We’ve never made money……When I get to the point where I don’t have any more money in my personal fund to switch over into the bakery funds to pay salaries, to pay ingredient costs, I can’t go any further.”-Rebecca McDaniel
Pennsylvania: God refuses to stop what I call Disappearing Students Syndrome at ‘his’ La Salle University, 23 employees laid off due to a $12-million USD shortfall caused partly by crashing freshmen enrollments.
South Carolina: Greer based restaurant food supplier Ovation Brands was taken over by Texas based Food Management Partners (FMP). As a result an undisclosed number of Ovation employees were laid off without warning: “FMP offered zero severance to the laid-off employees. No advanced notification was given either.”-unnamed former employee
The takeover of Ovation Brands will affect restaurant chains Ryan’s, Fire Mountain, Country Buffet, Old Country Buffet, Hometown Buffet and Tahoe Joes Famous Steakhouse.
25 August 2015: More A&P, Haggen shutdowns!
“If we weren’t a food desert before, we certainly are now!”
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.”