NEWARK, Ohio -- Despite meeting all sales projections for 2009, The Longaberger Company said it will lay off 125 people and another 100 may become employees of a company that specializes in supply chain management.
NBC 4's Mike Bowersock reported with the FAST FACTS.
The Longaberger Company announced a strategic partnership with Exel of Westerville Monday and said 100 employees could be rehired and retain their years of service.
Beginning Monday, Jan. 11, Exel was to manage, oversee and direct all operations associated with packaging of customer orders at Longaberger’s Customer Fulfillment Center (CFC) in Frazeysburg.
The 100 full-time employees of Longaberger’s CFC have the opportunity to become employees of Exel and retain their years of service, according to Longaberger.
Longaberger ships products direct to customers nationwide from its CFC located in the same manufacturing campus as its basket-making facility in Frazeysburg.
Longaberger is just a shell of what it used to be -- going from 9,000 employees a decade ago to about 1,100 today, Bowersock reported.
The move is similar to other moves it made in outsourcing certain production elements of its baskets to outsourcing management of a golf course it owns.
“Exel is an innovative company whose expertise and resources will bring greater efficiencies to our process and significantly improve packaging for our customers,” said Robin Crossman, president of The Longaberger Company.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to bring our expertise to the customer fulfillment operations of Longaberger,” said James Rees, Exel’s vice president of operations. “We look forward to further enhancing the tradition of quality for which Longaberger is known.”
The relationship with Exel is part of Longaberger’s broader strategy to solidify the company during the economic downturn and position it for future growth, according to a release.
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