MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — A candle factory in western Kentucky that was destroyed last month by a tornado has filed paperwork saying it won’t reopen the facility and will lay off some employees.
Mayfield Consumer Products said in a Jan. 10 filing under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act that it plans to shift some workers to a nearby plant that will open soon, news outlets reported.
The company said in the filing that about half of the 501 people employed at the Mayfield plant will be offered positions at the plant in Hickory, which will be “up and running as soon as practical,” according to the notice. Those not transferred would be permanently laid off, the notice said.
A spokesman for Mayfield Consumer Products told the Courier Journal in a statement Friday that the company will offer jobs to all who received termination notices and that outreach is ongoing.
“The company is absolutely committed to standing up new manufacturing facilities in Mayfield, doing it as promptly as it can,” said Bob Ferguson, a candle factory spokesman. “We hope they all come back.”
Eight factory workers died when a tornado leveled the facility on Dec. 10.
