Incomplete list of announced closings & layoffs.
Computer giant IBM warned of massive layoffs in 2014, after dismal sales in 2013.
Alabama: The largest air ambulance service in the United States, Air Evac Lifeteam, shutdown Air Evac 64 operations in Wetumpka! Company officials directly blamed issues with Obama Care and the bad economy: “The reimbursement issue, along with a low demand for patient transports, made it impossible for us to sustain operations at the base. As a result of the state’s decision not to expand Medicaid, nearly a quarter of the residents we fly in Alabama are self-pay with very little means to pay medical expenses. For those patients covered by Medicaid, they currently reimburse just over $500 for the transport of an adult. The high fixed cost of air ambulance makes it impossible for us to continue to operate with no indication of improvement in sight. We’ve been taking a loss with this base for many years. This is an area where air medical services are needed and we wanted to provide this valuable resource for the people in this region. We’ve also seen a decline in commercial reimbursement rates, making Alabama the lowest state in our 15-state service area for reimbursement.”
California: In Los Angeles, Japanese owned Sony Imaging killing jobs by moving operations to British Columbia, Canada. In Pomona, Quad/Graphics shutdown their factory, 62 jobs lost.
Florida: CenterState Bank shutting down 13% of its offices, killing 57 jobs. Bank officials blamed the bad economy for declining revenue.
Idaho: In Gooding, Glanbia Foods officials warned of layoffs saying “….we are actively pursuing a number of strategic growth opportunities, the current milk supply situation in Idaho is extremely tight.” Glanbia Foods claims to be the number one manufacturer of American Style Cheese, with four factories in Idaho and the world’s largest cheese factory in New Mexico!
Illinois: Sears shutting down their flagship store in Chicago. Company officials claim the store has lost “millions” since 2001.
Iowa: In Marengo, Quad/Graphics shutdown their factory, 138 jobs lost!
Minnesota: Retail giant Target killed 475 jobs at their HQ, and killed another 700 unfilled positions across their retail operations!
Missouri: In Saint Louis, business litigation company Husch Blackwell laid off 25 employees. It’s blamed on the bad economy: “Our firm, like many of our clients, is being challenged to do more with less…..”
Nevada: In Las Vegas, Too Big to Jail Bank of America laid off 77 employees. BoA is ending its Las Vegas operations.
New Mexico: Western New Mexico University warned of layoffs and tuition increases, due to lack of student enrollment!
New York: Swiss owned legal drugs pusher Novartis announced it will shutdown it’s New York factory by 2016. 525 jobs lost! Novartis has been getting into trouble around the world, because most of its drugs do not work! In Japan whistleblowers revealed that so called independent university studies on Novartis drugs were actually done by Novartis employees!
Ohio: Two Kmarts being shutdown, one in Westlake, one in Xenia. About 100 jobs lost!
Texas: Tech giant Texas Instruments laying off 1100 people! The company is also cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from investments into new operations. This all despite revenues for Texas Instruments going up! In Fort Worth, tax sucking Bell Helicopter killed 115 engineer jobs, despite making profits! Company officials say they need to kill jobs to remain “competitive”.
Wisconsin: In Sussex, Quad/Graphics warned of massive layoffs due to the bad economy.
21 January 2014: “Nobody’s going to buy a $40 loaf of bread!”
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) doesn’t count the hundreds of layoffs involving less than 50 people each, in its mass layoff reports. It also doesn’t count all the little ‘mom & pop’ businesses that shut down.
“Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security……..That’s what makes America different. That’s what makes us exceptional.”-Barack Obama, 10 September 2013