Sixty-four people who work at Foster Needle of Manitowoc have now lost their jobs. The announcement was made to the public Wednesday that the company is closing its doors after 60 years.
"We're definitely seeing a change you know we're seeing long standing companies that have hit the change in the global competitiveness," said Progress Lakeshore executive director, Peter Wills.
The company ended production Wednesday and in a statement from senior vice president, Miroslav Svejda of Groz-Beckert, the parent company to Foster Needle, said:
"Competition has intensified and the market growth dropped significantly in recent years. While we will be closing the doors permanently, we have respect and gratitude for the work that has been carried out at this facility."
However, for those who lost their jobs, others are stepping up to help.
"We have one of the best job markets right now, where there's more positions open than we're finding the employees for," said Wills.
Progress Lakeshore is working with the Workforce Development Board, Job Centers and local colleges to fill the more than 1,000 open positions in Manitowoc.
"We have one of the highest concentrations of manufacturing in Manitowoc and Sheboygan," said Wills.
According to the executive director at Bay Area Workforce Development, they're reaching out to the state to get the names of people who lost their jobs. The plan is to get in touch with them and help them find other employment as soon as possible.
