Northern Engraving in Spring Grove is losing business, as its main buyer is discontinuing two vehicles that require the most parts from the plant.
A longtime auto parts company in Spring Grove, MN, will see major changes this December.
Northern Engraving notified the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development it would be laying off 80 employees at their Spring Grove plant.
Northern Engraving has been producing auto body parts at this plant for nearly 50 years. But with their main buyer in auto parts discontinuing two cars that require the most parts from their Spring Grove plant, they are deciding not to find new partners.
It came to a surprise to many people in town and they are now pushing to process this potential loss of business and jobs.
Northern Engraving informed the MN DEED office just after 2 p.m. Oct. 6, telling them they plan to go through with laying off 80 of their employees at the Spring Grove plant sometime between Dec. 6 and 29 this year.
ABC 6 spoke with employees at Northern Engraving’s plant in spring grove about these layoffs. None wanted to speak on camera, but shared their thoughts on the news of their layoffs.
Some said Oct. 6 was a normal day that ended in shock as corporate officials called in during shift change to say a majority of them would be losing their jobs by December.
Some have new jobs lined up, but others don’t know where they’ll be going next. Many are concerned about the potential impacts these layoffs could have on the Spring Grove community.
That includes Chad Pierce, a former Northern Engravings employee.
“I feel really bad for the people who are losing their jobs. It’s bad, I don’t know, I just feel bad for this community, it’s only 1,470 people or whatever, and it is going to hurt,” Pierce said.
ABC 6 reached out to Northern Engraving’s corporate offices in Sparta, WI, for comment. They did not return calls in time for this story.
