Gun foundry lays off 53 workers
Rapid response meeting held with former Thompson Investment Casting employees
ROCHESTER — City and state officials confirmed Thursday that Thompson Investment Casting in Rochester laid off about 50 workers earlier this week.
The company was one of the spin-offs that arose following the 2011 closure of Thompson Center Arms, when Mike Haley and Tyler Stone purchased Thompson Center’s foundry, eventually hiring about 100 former TCA employees.
Rochester Economic Development Manager Karen Pollard said it was her understanding that 53 people were laid off; 52 full-time employees and one part-time employee.
Pollard said state officials held a rapid-response meeting with employees to offer assistance with training or contacts with other businesses in the area. She said the company has 130 workers at the Old Dover Road facility.
“We reached out to the owners to offer any assistance from the city, but right now everything is being covered at the state level,” Pollard said. “We are very concerned about what happens with these employees; fortunately, there are a lot of companies in the area that are hiring.”
Michael Power, community outreach administrator at the Office of Workforce Opportunity, confirmed the layoff and the meeting with employees of Thompson Investment Casting.
“We met with the rapid-response team a few days ago at the Great Bay Training Center,” Power said. “When there is a layoff of 25 or more, we have a rapid response to be sure no one falls through the cracks.”
Power said, with the company’s permission, they set up the meeting with the workers and several NHWorks partners who each explain opportunities available to the workers.
Representatives from N.H. Employment Security, Health and Human Services, Dept. of Education, the Community College system, Community Action and Economic Development cover a variety of topics.
“They talk about how to file unemployment, how to meet with a career navigator and options for vocational rehab,” Power said. “HHS can help them with anything they offer such as food stamps or health coverage.”
Power said the meeting usually lasts about an hour and people can stay after and ask questions in private if they prefer.
“They introduce the people to what is available and each will now be assigned a career navigator,” Power said, “But unemployment at 2.7 percent means some people will get hired right away.”
Thompson Investment Casting HR Director Monica Haley did not comment other than to say that they were very busy dealing with the process and referred questions to Stone. Calls to Stone were not returned.
While the reason for the layoff has not been made public, the move follows a national trend that has gun makers putting on the brakes.
Following the election of President Donald Trump in November, gun manufacturers took an immediate hit on the stock market.
American Outdoor Brand (formerly Smith and Wesson) stock is down about 35 percent from where it was a year ago and Sturm Ruger and Company is down by nearly 30 percent.
The Washington Post reports sales of guns and ammunition in the United States have dropped precipitously since Election Day, according to FBI statistics, trade groups, gun shop owners and corporate reports. These sources say it's the result of electing a president who has vowed to protect gun rights.
Firearms enthusiasts and salesmen said Trump’s victory removed the sense of urgency to buy that some felt under President Obama, who tried to ban the sale of assault-style weapons.
