SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark.—The Gates Corp. factory in Siloam Springs is laying off 50 workers as it installs equipment from a plant that’s closing in South Carolina. But the company says it will keep the positions and rehire workers once the equipment is in place.
The plant, which makes automotive and industrial belts, has 630 employees, including 80 temporary workers.
Denver-based Gates said that Friday would be the last day for 30 full-time and 17 temporary workers. Gates spokeswoman Meg VanderLaan said the workers were told two weeks ago they would be let go. She said the layoffs are part of a restructuring of the company’s belt plants that was announced May 30.
Vanderlaan said it is not yet known when the equipment from the Moncks Corner, S.C., plant will be on line. But she said that the company is not trying to find new jobs for the laid off workers because they’re expected to be recalled.
A job fair by the Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for Oct. 14, and the Rogers-Lowell chamber has a job fair scheduled a week later. The Siloam Springs job fair was set after the DaySpring Cards plant announced in June it would lay off 80 workers this month.
Earlier this week, the Kennametal plant in Bentonville said it will close, laying off 120 workers by the end of the year.
Gates Corp., which is part of global engineering firm Tomkins PLC, makes industrial and automotive products at plants in 25 countries. Tomkins had 2007 revenue of $5.8 billion and has more than 34,000 employees in the U.S. and abroad.
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Information from: Benton County Daily Record,
