The IBJ
Three Indiana manufacturers will close or scale back their operations, idling more than 150 workers in the process according to notices filed yesterday with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
New Jersey-based Sleep Innovations will close its mattress- and pillow-making operation in already hard-hit Elkhart, eliminating 104 jobs beginning April 27. Elkhart County has the highest unemployment rate in the state after big layoffs in the beleaguered recreational vehicle industry.
German auto parts manufacturer Mahle Inc., meanwhile, said it will close its Mahle Clevite Inc. distribution center in the northeast Indiana town of Churubusco, effecting 78 workers. In October, the company announced plans to move the operation to Olive Branch, Miss., in the third quarter of this year.
Jasper-based furniture and electronics maker Kimball International said it will lay off 75 workers at its office furniture factory in Borden beginning March 31. In September, the company said it would consolidate that plant with another southern Indiana facility in Salem, giving 244 employees the chance to transfer.
Indiana employers have announced more than 500 job cuts already this year.