By Dereck R. Smith, Daily Reporter
dsmith@greenfieldreporter.com
MT. COMFORT - Preferred Sourcing is laying off workers at its Mt. Comfort headquarters.
Don Dufinetz, the company's senior vice president of operations, confirmed the layoffs Monday morning, but he declined to cite a number of affected workers or provide other details.
The firm has not filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said Valerie Kroeger, assistant communications director.
A WARN notice requires companies to provide 60 days' notice in case of layoffs or plant closings that meet certain requirements.
Founded in 1998, Preferred Sourcing is located in Mt. Comfort Commercial Park in a building along CR 600W that also holds Hardigg Cases. Preferred Sourcing performs quality assurance services such as inspection, sorting, containment, technical consultation, sequencing, training and engineering work. The firm's headquarters is here, but it has 10 locations and about 300 employees.
It's uncertain if Preferred Sourcing's other locations will be affected by the layoffs.
Customers for Preferred Sourcing include automakers, auto suppliers, heavy duty truck manufacturers, and all-terrain vehicle manufacturers, according to the company Web site.
Automaker customers include Toyota, General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, BMW, Mercedes and Hyundai. Other Preferred Sourcing customers are tier-one auto suppliers like ArvinMeritor, Bosch and Dana Corp., according to the site.
"They're a valuable corporate citizen to Hancock County," said Dennis Maloy, executive director of Hancock Economic Development Council. "At the same time, it's unfortunate that we have in Hancock County are not immune to national economic trends. I'm sorry to see that they're having to lay off, but given that they're part of the automotive industry, they're feeling the pinch of what is happening in the automotive industry these days."
Several large companies, including Pfizer, Caterpillar and Home Depot, announced major layoffs Monday.
Domestic auto sales have plunged in recent months as the economy has gone into recession, and many auto suppliers have suffered as a result. For example, Keihin Indiana Precision Technology, the county's largest employer, laid off 100 temporary workers and made other production cuts in response to decreased orders from Honda.
Cleveland-based Eaton Corp., which has a truck transmission plant in Greenfield, announced last week that it would trim 5,200 jobs; on Monday, it announced its fourth-quarter earnings plunged 36 percent.
Economists predict the layoff trend to continue in the coming months; they predict a net loss of at least 2 million jobs this year even if President Obama's $825 billion package of increased government spending and tax cuts is enacted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.