AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT ENTERGY PALISADES NUCLEAR PLANT

New Orleans, Louisiana-based Entergy, an integrated energy company engaged in electric power production and retail distribution, has announced that it is proceeding on schedule with the pre-planned closure and decommissioning of the Entergy Palisades Nuclear Plant located in Covert, Michigan.

According to a company statement “The Palisades plant will permanently shut down on May 31, 2022, after which the facility will be transferred to Holtec International for purposes of safe and timely decommissioning"

Holtec’s business and the decommissioning process.

Holtec is currently managing the decommissioning of Oyster Creek (New Jersey), Pilgrim (Massachusetts), and Indian Point (New York) nuclear plants.

The closure will immediately impact approximately 184 Palisades plant employees commencing on June 24, 2022, with other layoffs occurring as necessary. Among the 594 current employees, only 260 will stay on to decommission the plant. The total loss of direct and indirect jobs associated with the closure is projected to be 739 positions.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT SENECA FOODS CORPORATION

Marion, New York-based Seneca Foods Corporation, one of the most highly integrated fruit and vegetable processing companies in the United States, has announced that the company will be leaving the pear processing business and closing its Sunnyside, Washington apple and pear processing plant — and laying off 300 employees after October 5, 2019. The decision was driven by processor overcapacity and changing consumer tastes away from canned pears towards seasonal fresh fruit and off-season foreign imports.

A company spokesperson noted, “We haven’t been profitable there for a while. It wasn’t taken lightly, the whole thing. We had some seriously dedicated people there in Sunnyside.” It should be noted that the company also closed its peach processing operation in Modesto, California in 2018. The company plans to place the 265,000 square foot main facility and the nearby 225,000 square-foot warehouse on the market in the near future.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE -- CLOSURE AND LAYOFFS AT COLORTREE GROUP

Richmond, Virginia-based Colortree Group, a commercial print and direct mail vendor, has abruptly shut down its operations, closed its doors, and laid off approximately 240 employees. It appears that the financially struggling company simply ran out of money and could no longer sustain operations. The employees were shocked to find the doors locked upon their arrival and were instructed to call a phone number for details.

In a letter to the State Dislocated Worker Unit of the Virginia Employment Commission, President and CEO Pat Patterson noted, “This letter is being provided to you in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“WARN Act”) in order to notify you that Colortree Group, located at 8000 Villa Park Drive, Henrico, Virginia, will be closing some or all of its divisions of the Company, Many of Colortree’s approximately 240 employees at this worksite will be laid off as a result. The anticipated closure of certain Colortree divisions, and resulting layoffs, will be permanent. The Company hopes to accomplish this closure with as little disruption as possible to the lives of our employees and the community.”

Patterson’s company, Stingem Management Group became the sole owner of Colortree after acquiring the company from Boathouse Capital, a private equity firm. Ironically, Patterson, a highly accomplished manager of printing operations, believed in a business philosophy called TOC, Theory of Constraints, which posits that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and the role of a manager is to identify and manage the identified constraints – and of course, the biggest constraint is the possible for the business to be revived by an infusion of funds from the customers, a competitor, or by acquisition.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?