David Sale
February 13, 2009
Newberg's largest employer, dental manufacturer A-dec Inc., announced Thursday a work force reduction that will result in the loss of jobs for nearly 100 employees throughout the company, the majority from assembly and manufacturing operations at the campus on Mountainview Drive.
"These are unprecedented times in the world economy," said company president Scott Parrish in a news release announcing the cuts. "Neither the dental industry nor A-dec is immune to these economic pressures."
The cuts were made in response to declining sales and revenue, said company spokeswoman Paula Vogel, adding that the cuts are likely to be permanent, not temporary layoffs.
In 2008, prior to the economic downturn, the company reported annual sales of $250 million in more than 100 countries.
While the company maintains sales and distribution centers in the United Kingdom and Australia, almost all of the 100 job losses will occur at A-dec's Newberg manufacturing campus and corporate headquarters, Vogel said.
With regular employment of about 978 workers, A-dec will remain Newberg's largest private employer despite the cuts - George Fox University, with 560 employees, is the second largest employer.
"We had hoped that a wage freeze would be enough to help us through this challenging time," Parrish said. "Unfortunately, it has become clear over the past few months that additional action is necessary."
A-dec also anticipates a limited number of position reassignments in coming weeks.
Overall, the reassignments and layoffs will amount to approximately a 10-percent reduction in the company's work force.
Parrish added that the company would provide a severance package, including wage and benefit continuations, to the employees laid off.