Incomplete list of announced closings & layoffs.
Alabama: Gadsden Etowah Emergency Medical Service now chapter 11 bankrupt busted! The EMS could lose its medical license as well. Decatur Emergency Medical Service now chapter 11 bankrupt busted! Many employees went on strike! As of the end of February the EMS had only one operating ambulance!
California: Only one day after Japan based Sony notified state officials in a WARN that they laid off 40 employees at their video game operation, Sony admitted they actually killed 400 jobs at their Rancho Bernardo office! Sony also said it would begin shutting down 20 stores and kill 1-thousand jobs across the U.S.! In Claremont, after 25 years Stamp Your Heart Out stamp and scrapbooking store shutdown. The owner blamed it on the bad economy.
Connecticut: In Windsor, after only two years Nassau’s Furniture shutdown its warehouse.
Georgia: In Albany, after 30 years the Who’s Who upscale clothing store shutdown. The owner blames the bad economy.
Illinois: In Chicago, after 66 years Frank’s Jewelry shutdown. The owner cited a string of bad luck events which made it financially impossible to continue.
Kansas: In Wichita, God refused to stop the Bethel Life Center school from shutting down. School officials blamed disappearing students: “We have had over the last 10 years a drop in attendance. Because of the cost to operate such a program, if your enrollment drops, you can no longer provide the service.”-Dave Zavala, vice chairman
Massachusetts: In Worchester, God refused to stop the killing of 15 jobs at the Catholic Assumption College. School officials said the layoffs were the only way they could keep from raising tuition. Parents have told school officials the number one reason why student enrollment is declining is because of the skyrocketing costs of higher education. Gee, do academics really need to be rocket scientists to figure that one out? In Middleboro, the Twice Upon a Time used book store shutdown. The owner blames electronic books.
New York: Sterling National Bank laid off three employees.
Pennsylvania: In Emigsville, Graham Packaging laying off 55 employees at the end of March. Company officials said the layoffs are necessary to “remain competitive”. In Daugherty Township, after 57 years the Red Star Oil gas station shutdown. The family owners say their old gas station is now in violation of state Department of Environmental Protection rules, and they’re being kicked off the four acre property: “We have to be done by Wednesday, which is dictated by the Pennsylvania DEP.”-Drew Freeman
Texas: Rio Hondo School District killed 23 jobs. It’s blamed on funding cuts which are blamed on disappearing students (declining enrollment).
25 February 2014: IBM launches job killing Project Apollo!
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shut down.
“Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security……..That’s what makes America different. That’s what makes us exceptional.”-Barack Obama, 10 September 2013