Incomplete list of publicly announced layoffs & shutdowns:
Alabama: Richland Golf Course shutdown: “It is with heavy and broken hearts that we announce we have put Richland Golf Center up for sale. The past fourteen years at Richland have been a true blessing…..The past few years have been rough. Our rent has more than tripled over the last several years and it has killed us. We just cannot continue on this road……We have met with banks, private investors, City officials, and more trying to work something out. Our prayer is to sell the facility.”
California: In San Luis Obispo, after 30 years the owners of Costume Capers say they must shutdown after Halloween due to competition from internet and the seasonal Halloween costume shops. Cupertino based (but incorporated in Ireland as a tax dodge) hard-disk maker Seagate announced it’s killing off 1-thousand and 50 jobs in time for Xmas! It’s blamed on crashing computer sales. In San Francisco, the owner of the last gun store in the city, High Bridge Arms, says the city is about to pass an unconstitutional law that will shutdown his business. City administrators boasted that they were openly attacking the 2nd Amendment: “What we are doing is essentially closing what amounts to a loophole between federal and state law and making sure that San Francisco continues to stay at the forefront of gun control legislation in our country.”-Mark Farrell
Florida: Avon Park Fire Department laid off 11 firefighters due to local taxpayers demanding an end to the Fire Assessment Fee.
Georgia: Atlanta based NBC owned Weather Channel laying off an undisclosed number of employees due to a radical change in programming.
Idaho: The Idaho Statesman revealed that Idaho police have not been enforcing state laws regarding the sale of beer and wine. One rule says all brands of beer/wine must be available to all retailers who want to sell it, no “private label” sales.
In Bannock County the Mormon dominated Bannock Development Corporation outright lied about jobs saying “The demand is here but the workforce isn’t.” Bullshit! I’ve been unemployed since April (when I got laid off after the USPS shutdown their postal processing center in Pocatello on Flandro Drive). I got no severance and the Idaho Department of Labor gave me no unemployment assistance. I’ve got 13 years military experience, decades in retail/warehousing/delivery and six years in television, yet in the past few months I got three rejection notices for entry level jobs say I “didn’t have the qualifications they were looking for”! Where are these jobs Bannock Development Corporation? I’ve been told my problem is my age, I’m over 45 years old which seems to be the unwritten cutoff for hiring workers. Most of the young adults in the area flee due to the lack of good paying jobs, so is what the Bannock Development Corporation really saying is that ‘the demand is here but the YOUNG MORMON workforce isn’t.’?
Illinois: In Washington, Tractor Supply Company shutting down its Washington Road location in October, due to “many business factors”. The Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon shutdown after 18 years on Route 50, at least 50 jobs lost. It’s blamed on the property owner who wants to redevelop the land. The Top of the Hill Bait Shop in Murphysboro shutdown.
Iowa: In Shell Rock, farm equipment maker Unverferth Manufacturing joins the downsizing club: “As commodity prices have plummeted over the last year and investment tax credits have subsided, so has the demand for farm equipment. As such, we have had to make the hard choice of laying off workers to better meet current demand. Being family owned, we keep any specific numbers private.”
Louisiana: Too Big to Jail Capital One announced major changes for its Pelican State operations that will result in shutdowns and hundreds of layoffs: “We are transforming the bank with a focus on efficiency and simplifying our organization. We notified assistant branch managers in Louisiana that their roles are being eliminated.”
Maryland: Bethesda based tax-sucker Lockheed Martin announced they will eliminate 5-hundred IT jobs! It’s connected to their $9-billion USD takeover of Sikorsky Aircraft. Lockheed Martin has already eliminated hundreds of jobs this year.
Michigan: After 35 years The Lark restaurant shutting down by Xmas in West Bloomfield Township. The owners said it’s getting harder to run a business and the returns continue to fall.
New Jersey: In Toms River, Harris’ clothing store shutdown after 87 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions). After 100 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Metzler’s Sporting Goods shutdown: “We made it to 100 years and that was very important to me. I’m going to be 65, it makes sense. Now is a good time for me to pack it in while everything is still OK and to go out on my terms.”-Billy Meltzer
New York: In Orchard Park, after 80 years (surviving the Great deflationary Depression and numerous recessions) Eckl’s Restaurant shutting down by the end of the month. It’s up for sale.
North Carolina: Duke Energy shutting down their Allen Steam Station coal fired electricity factory by 2024, due to a federal lawsuit.
Oklahoma: In Tulsa, Lil’ Reasor’s convenience store on 15th Street and Lewis Avenue shutdown.
Pennsylvania: Too Big to Jail BB&T (Branch Banking & Trust) laid off 89 people at its new Lititz location. It’s part of BB&T’s $2.5-billion takeover of Susquehanna Bancshares. More layoffs could happen once more redundancies are identified.
South Dakota: Wyndham Hotel Group shutting down their Aberdeen call center, 250 jobs lost by January 2016!
Texas: In Austin, after 34 years Cozzoli’s Pizza shutdown.
Washington: The state Charter School Commission forced to shutdown after the state Supreme Court ruled charter schools “unconstitutional”!
Wyoming: In Pavillion, Miss Ginny’s Roost Steak House shutting down: “Yes, Saturday lunch will be our last day of operation. There is no one to blame but myself: I made very bad business decisions, based on bad information. I take full responsibility for the demise of my once proud Roost.”
09 September 2015: It’s official, Albertsons killed Haggen!
WARN=Worker Adjustment & Retraining Notification
Former employees who receive severance are not counted as unemployed
The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) no longer issues mass layoff reports: “On March 1, 2013, President Obama ordered into effect the across-the- board spending cuts (commonly referred to as sequestration) required by the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act, as amended. Under the order, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) must cut its current budget by more than $30 million, 5 percent of the current 2013 appropriation, by September 30, 2013. In order to help achieve these savings and protect core programs, the BLS will eliminate two programs, including Mass Layoff Statistics, and all ‘measuring green jobs’ products. This news release is the final publication of monthly mass layoff survey data.”