By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com
Madison will lose 240 manufacturing and distribution jobs starting this month when Sanford North American closes two plants and moves their operations to Tennessee.
The company made the announcement this afternoon.
The facilities to be closed are at 1311 W. Badger Road,(176 workers) and 4802 Femrite Drive (64 workers). The company makes writing instruments, art supplies and office organization products. It is headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill.
In a letter to the state’s Workforce Development Department, company human resources director JoAnna Vanderpoel said the employees will be released through April 30. None of the workers are represented by collective bargaining units and do not have bumping rights.
In a separate letter to the city, Daren Couture, Sanford’s vice president of operations, said the company will centralize its injection molding operations and distributions in Maryville, Tenn.
“These plans are not a reflection on Madison or the hard work and dedication of our employees at this location,” he wrote.
“This decision was driven solely by Sanford’s ongoing effort to reach greater efficiencies in every facet of our operations. We will work with our employees and the community to help ease the impact of the closing.”
He said the company plans to move to Tennessee to “leverage existing underutilized operations and eliminate redundant processes.”
He said Sanford’s Madison operation has 65,000 square feet of manufacturing space, while the Maryville site has about 175,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
