ODON— A change in contracts for services to NWSC Crane will apparently result in about 70 lay-offs at one of its contractors.
General Dynamics Information Technology has filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (WARN) notice with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development that it plans to permanently lay-off 70 employees at its office at the Westgate@Crane Technology Park.
The notice lists the final day of employment as Oct. 31. The company says that while it is laying off a large portion of its workforce it does not intend to completely shut down the Daviess County operation.
Dismissed employees will be receiving severance pay and will be receiving a COBRA insurance offer.
“General Dynamics held an IT contract with Crane and that has gone to a new company as of this year,” said Bryant Niehoff with the Uplands Science and Technology Foundation that works with companies at Westgate. “That is a very large contract and I would assume that is the reason for reducing the presence at Crane. Soon I think we will see a new company come in and pick up that roll and the contract for the base.”
General Dynamics is based in Virginia and describes itself as “a global technology and professional services company that delivers consulting, technology and mission services to every major agency across the U.S. government, defense and intelligence community.”
This is their second significant lay-off this year. In May General Dynamics announced it would by laying off another 60 workers in Maryland.
“This is pretty consistent with defense contractors,” said Niehoff. “The defense contracting world is an industry in and of itself and the way the work flows from the various installations and various commands changes from time to time. That has been shown at Westgate since its inception.”
With General Dynamics getting smaller, another contractor, Resource Management Concepts from Maryland is expected to take over the Crane IT contract.
“They have been in and out of the area. They have mentioned they will be expanding their presence,” said Niehoff. “I would imagine they will be looking to ramp up significantly. I suspect they may offer some opportunities for the people let go from General Dynamics who would have the skills they are looking for.”
Niehoff predicts that given the skillset of the people being laid off they should have work options available in the Crane area.
“With the skills these people have and the activity of the defense sector in our neck of the woods there should be a lot of opportunities available for them,” said Niehoff. “I don’t think these folks will have a lot of challenges in landing their next step. For those who work in the defense business this is part of the way of life.”