Employees shocked by suddenness of Wood-Mode closure.
A May 13th article from The Daily Item
Tim and Penny Benner somberly walked out of the Wood-Mode Inc cabinet factory in Kreamer, PA Monday afternoon after being abruptly notified along with nearly 1,000 other employees that the 77-year-old business was closing immediately.
“I’m not surprised because we’ve known for months that something was happening, but I’m shocked that it happened this fast and we didn’t at least get a 60-day notice,” said Tim Benner, a 61-year-old final inspector who has worked at the plant for 41 1/2 years.
Wood-Mode spokesman David Scarr said in a statement that after a deal to sell the company to another firm fell through early last week, officials were notified on Friday that its prime lender was “unwilling to provide normal funding” that would have allowed the custom wood cabinet manufacturing business to continue operating, leaving “no choice but to make the difficult decision to wind down its operations.”
In one instant, Benner and his wife, a 10-year employee, lost both incomes.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” he said as they stood outside the plant consoling other employees who received word at about 2:45 p.m. that they were being permanently laid off.
“I expected to retire here,” said Tammy Heeter, 59, who was employed at Wood-Mode for nearly 20 years. “Now I’m thinking about paying bills and the lack of insurance.”
Six state police troopers, three Snyder County sheriff deputies and Middleburg Borough police were stationed at the plant as employees walked to their cars, many carrying boxes of personal items.
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