Duro Textiles closing in Fall River, 131 expected to lose jobs

FALL RIVER-BASED Duro Textiles is closing its doors, according to a letter the company sent to the Mass. Division of Career Services. The textile manufacturer employs 131 people, according to the notice.
FALL RIVER-BASED Duro Textiles is closing its doors, according to a letter the company sent to the Mass. Division of Career Services. The textile manufacturer employs 131 people, according to the notice.

FALL RIVER – Duro Textiles LLC plans to close its manufacturing facilities and permanently lay off its workforce in mid-October, according to a notice sent to the state’s Division of Career Services.
The company employs 131 people and is among the city’s largest manufacturers. The plant closure notification sent by CEO Stewart Little to state officials is referred to as a WARN notice, which is a notice to state authorities under the Worker Adjustment Retraining and Notification Act regarding impending closures or layoff of employees.
The Fall River textile plant, with facilities at 110 Chace St. and 206 Globe Mills Ave., produces performance fabrics for a variety of military and commercial customers. Its products are found in garments ranging from chef uniforms to performance outwear, according to the company website.
According to an Aug. 25 report in The Herald News, the company’s largest customer was the U.S. military. As operations were reduced in Iraq and Afghanistan, the company increased its exports to countries including Saudi Arabia and China, the newspaper reported.
In his notice to the state, Little did not indicate what led to the company’s financial difficulties. The company had exhausted its existing credit resources and as of the Aug. 16 notice, had not found a definitive purchaser for the properties or a source of capital, he wrote.
The reduction in force affecting all employees is expected on or around Oct. 15, he stated.
“We have not provided more advance notice of closure because the company had a good faith belief that providing more advanced notice would have prevented the company from obtaining either a buyer for the business or new capital, either of which would have enabled the company to keep the facilities open and operating,” he said.
Company officials could not be reached for comment, despite several attempts made by the Providence Business News over the last week.
The affected employees have already started seeking out re-employment counseling and related services through the Fall River Career Center, which is run by the state’s Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
The center started running meetings for the displaced employees on Aug. 9, according to Joseph Viana, the center’s director of operations. By that time, employees had received their own notification of the job losses. As of last week, about 100 employees at Duro had attended meetings set up at the center, Viana said.
“There is help available,” he said.

No posts to display