Bradford paint company may lay off 66 workers

BRADFORD — Production Paint Finishers, Inc. plans to lay off about 66 employees in April after receiving notification from its largest customer, BAE Systems, that its orders will be greatly reduced in late April, a company official said Wednesday, March 24.

Production Paint, however, will continue operations, said Allen Francis, vice president and co-owner of the 40-year-old company, which currently has 95 employees.

Affected employees will not receive severance packages, but “we’re working with Job and Family Services to help our employees,” Francis said.

“It’s unfortunate,” Francis said. “We’ve got a lot of good people.”

Employees were notified of the anticipated layoff in a meeting on Wednesday, March 17, and through a written notice on Thursday, March 18, Francis said in a March 16 letter to the state Department of Job and Family Services.

“Although we are actively soliciting new customers and remain hopeful that some of the laid-off employees will be recalled in the relatively near future, some of the layoffs will likely be permanent,” Francis wrote in the letter.

Production Paint Finishers is at 140 Center St.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or bsutherly@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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