Capital City
Press to close in March; 150 jobs to be lost The transition began last month shortly after the announced closing. “Due to trends in the short-run journals business and the high capital investment necessary to maintain two facilities serving the same market, The Sheridan Group has decided to consolidate all short-run journal printing operations to one site,” said Capital City Press President Gary Kittredge. “Although closing a plant is never an easy decision, we feel it is necessary to remain competitive in the short-run journals business. We will make every effort to assist our employees with their transition to new employment.” Most of the work previously done at the Berlin plant will be produced in the future at The Sheridan Press in Hanover, Pa. Since the announced closing in early January, the Vermont Department of Labor reported that a $10,000 grant has been given to a non-profit group, the Vermont Employee Ownership Center, to explore the viability of an employee-owned printing operation created from the remnants of Capital City Press. The state labor department is also working to help affected employees find other jobs. Kittredge said The Sheridan Group has matched the state’s grant with its own $10,000 grant, but management is proceeding with the planned shutdown scheduled for early March. “The closure will proceed independent of the employee ownership proposal,” Kittredge said. “Capital City Press and the union have reached an agreement relative to the plant closing and severance. I would describe the agreement as very reasonable and fair.” About 150 jobs impacted Richard Angney, executive vice president of the Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit organization that helps businesses throughout Central Vermont, said the agency is also working to help employees find work at comparable levels if at all possible. He described the effort to explore an employee ownership plan as a “pre-feasibility study.” “The Sheridan Group is retaining their clients who were serviced by Capital City Press, and they are planning to move some equipment to other facilities,” Angney said. “Some equipment will remain with the plant to be sold. If we can get that far with an employee-owned operation, we’re really talking about a new start-up business.” On the positive side, Angney described the economic climate of central Vermont as “good” and said several businesses including some printing companies have inquired about hiring some of Capital City Press’s employees. “I met with one printing company in Barre and they are looking for sales and production people. They’re not looking for 50 workers, but perhaps four or five.” Capital City’s closing “is going to be a tough road for some people,” he said. “We do have other industries that are looking for people. If they are good workers and can be trained, there are job opportunities in the region – maybe not at the same wage level — but fairly comparable. We’re not talking about all 150 positions that will be affected at Capital City, but maybe 75 to 80 jobs overall.” He said there are several cases where both a husband and wife are employed at Capital City. “Those situations can be devastating for households,” because there isn’t a spouse’s income to rely upon when one spouse loses their job. Capital City Press was founded in 1908 in downtown Montpelier and served the printing needs of the Vermont state legislature and local insurance companies in its early years. The company began servicing the periodicals market in the 1950s and was acquired by The Sheridan Group in 1998. |
