YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
A Springfield manufacturing plant with operations dating back seven decades is conducting layoffs.
The Timken Belts plant at 2601 W. Battlefield Road is reducing its headcount by 97 positions, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed with the state of Missouri on Jan. 7.
Scott Schroeder, spokesperson for North Canton, Ohio-based parent company The Timken Co. (NYSE: TKR), said the cuts amount to 40% of the Springfield plant's workforce. The WARN notice indicates the layoffs will start in March, and Schroeder noted they would be completed by year's end.
"While difficult, we make staffing decisions at our facilities based on a continuous review of our long-term capacity plans, cost competitiveness and customer demand," Schroeder said in an email. "We will provide support to help employees affected by this change, including retention/severance pay and outplacement career planning services. To provide as much time as possible for those impacted to plan for their future, we’re committed to providing at least 60 days’ notice prior to an employee’s last day."
The Timken Belts plant, located northeast of the Battlefield Road and Scenic Avenue intersection, makes power transmission belts for use in industrial, commercial and consumer applications, according to its website.
The Battlefield Road facility that previously operated as Carlisle Power Transmission Products was purchased in 2015 by Timken, along with a plant in Fort Scott, Kansas, for around $220 million from New York private equity group American Industrial Partners, according to Springfield Business Journal archives. Timken Belts in late 2023 signaled plans to close the Kansas plant, according to reporting at the time by the Industrial Distribution publication.
The Springfield plant started in 1959 as Dayco Corp. and manufactured belts and hoses for the automotive and industrial sectors until 2001, when Carlisle Cos. Inc. (NYSE: CSL) bought the business from Mark IV Industries, SBJ archives indicate.
Fortified Elder Law LLC moved; Weston Kissee, a 17-year employee with St. Louis-based financial services firm Edward Jones, relocated; and Monroe Coffee Co. changed ownership.
