Slow market conditions prompted a layoff at Ten Oaks Dobyns facility, but the company plans to ramp up production as soon as the market improves.
After a thorough evaluation of market conditions and production efficiencies, Ten Oaks concluded that flooring production at the Dobyns Road facility “must be significantly reduced,” according to a release from the company.
Ten Oaks purchased the Dobyns facility, which housed the former Shaw Flooring Company, in January.
Ten Oaks opened that facility with a skeleton crew and initially used the facility for lumber packing, while steadily working to build operations there.
“We’ve been in production at the Dobyns facility with one full line since the summer,” a company spokesman said. “Basically, the market has just slowed and it’s just not feasible” to maintain that line.
Several factors combined created a “perfect storm” in terms of market conditions, the spokesman said, and explained the mid-Atlantic region is one of the company’s biggest markets.
The damage Hurricane Michael wrought in the Carolinas were among the reasons cited for the workforce reduction at Ten Oaks, a local flooring production facility with two locations in Patrick County.
An estimated 40 employees were among those affected by the Wednesday layoff. Affected employees were notified that afternoon. Those employees may be eligible for unemployment benefits through the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC).
Affected employees also can apply for health insurance through COBRA, and those who had earned vacation pay were paid, the spokesman said.
“We sincerely regret the impact this has on our employees, as well as their families and our community,” the company stated in the release. “We appreciate the hard work these employees contributed, and we are committed to treating them with the utmost respect and dignity as they transition to new opportunities.”
The company operates a second facility on Progress Drive.
“The difficult actions we are taking now will better position Ten Oaks to support operations and grow employment opportunities at the Progress Drive plant,” the release stated.
In the short term, “we plan to focus on the on the more efficient system” operating in the Progress Drive facility, the spokesman said.
“This is not a Shaw 2.0,” the spokesman said. “We need to do this now to make it through the lean period. We’d rather be adding a second, third or fourth production line” than reducing the workforce.
A skeleton crew will remain at the Dobyns facility, and as market conditions allow, the company will ramp up production there, the spokesman said.
Employees affected by the layoff would be considered to fill those positions as they become available, but it is unknown when that will occur.
“Ten Oaks remains committed to the local tradition of producing quality hardwood flooring that has been a staple of Patrick County employment for nearly a century,” and the company will continue to employ more than 145 people in the Stuart area.