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By Elaine Morris Roberts, Staff Writer Updated 7:09 PM Friday, June 19, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — Konecranes, a commercial crane manufacturer, has felt the pinch of the recession and laid off about 18 employees.

“We have laid off about 12 people in the shop and five or six in the office,” said Tom Sothard, president, regions America.

The company’s North American headquarters —which is home to about 200 employees, comprised of manufacturing and office staff — is located at 4401 Gateway Blvd. in the PrimeOhio Industrial Park.

“We’ve been pretty fortunate,” Sothard said, “because 2008 was a record year for us. We supply the auto industry and others that are down, but power and wind energy are also big customers.”

The company has experienced fairly consistent growth for about 25 years and the current recession is something Sothard hopes will not have a lasting impact.

“When there’s a recession, you take a look at your business and decide where to streamline. Customers aren’t letting loose with orders and have a certain skepticism and a wait-and-see attitude, but we are still receiving significant levels of inquiry from across the country,” he said.

The company employs about 2,500 in the region, and other divisions of the company which produce heavy equipment are not experiencing the same slow down because of the large number of infrastructure projects they supply.

“We don’t have a crystal ball,” Sothard said, “but we’re taking this time to position this company so when the economy rebounds, we’re in a strong position to support our customers.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0371 or elroberts@coxohio.com.

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