PORT ANGELES –Westport Shipyard announced today that employees were laid off at its Port Angeles cabinet shop and its facilities in La Conner this week.
Company officials declined to say how many workers lost their jobs, or provide any other information.
The cabinet shop on 18th Street next to William R. Fairchild International Airport makes the interior woodwork for Westport’s yachts. It employed 274 people as of February.
Westport’s yacht-building plant on Marine Drive — where the firm makes 164-foot yachts that start at about $34 million — employs about 299 people. The waterfront yacht-building facility was not listed as having any layoffs.
The economic climate “has required Westport to adjust the production line rate to align our production with current market demand,” Bob Ruecker, human resources director for Westport, wrote in a prepared statement.
“Unfortunately, this reduction in production results in the layoff or termination of some employees at our Port Angeles cabinet shop and La Conner facilities.”
Ruecker also wrote: “We will have no further comment beyond this release.”
Westport General Manager Phil Beirnes said the cabinet shop completed a $1.3 million, 16,500-square-foot expansion last month.
The expansion is intended to result in the hiring of at least 50 more employees, but Beirnes couldn’t confirm if any people had been hired.
When asked if Westport still intends to hire new workers because of the expansion, Beirnes said: “It depends on what the market does.”
In February, Westport laid off workers at three yacht building facilities in Westport, Hoquiam and La Conner.
The Daily World in Aberdeen, citing Westport employees, reported that between 100 to 120 people in Westport and Hoquiam lost their jobs at that time.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
