HUMBOLDT - Genova Products, one of the original industries in the Humboldt Industrial Park in Hazle Township, is slated to close by the end of the year.
Sixty people will be left without jobs.
The exact closing date of the plant, which manufactures plastics, vinyl pipe and rain gutters, is indefinite, said Andrew Kokiko, the representative for Local 737T, International Chemical Workers Union, United Food and Commercial Workers Union.
"We signed a closing agreement with them on Friday, July 20," Kokiko said. "We don't know (the closing date). Our contract is good until Nov. 8. They said it will depend on sales."
Kokiko said the plant was established in 1975 and at its height in the mid-1990s employed as many as 240 people.
"They had a strike about seven years ago, and it seemed they were never right after that," said Kokiko, who also worked at the plant.
Operations of the Humboldt plant are being absorbed by Genova plants in Faribault, Minn., Sparks, Nev., and Ft. Wayne, Ind. Genova is headquartered in Davison, Mich.
The closing also depends on "how long it takes to get the equipment into the plants" to assume Hazleton's production load, Kokiko said.
Workers will not receive a severance package, but the company agreed to bring its pension fund "up to par" and pay employees for unused vacation time before the plant is closed, Kokiko said.
CAN DO President Kevin O'Donnell was sad to hear the news.
"They always provided good jobs," O'Donnell said. "They were a good industry for Hazleton."
The company responded "no comment" when asked if the plant was closing.