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The Springfield News-Sun knows that coverage of jobs is important to you. Recently, the paper has covered changes at companies like HDI Landing Gear, which recently announced it could add as many as 50 jobs after a new contract with Boeing. The paper has also covered Rittal, which laid off about 25 of about 700 workers at its Urbana facility due to a recent reorganization.
A Columbus firm that employs more than 300 people in Springfield is undergoing a reorganization that will lead to some layoffs.
Thirty-One Gifts, which operates a distribution facility on Titus Road, will lay off about 16 workers as part of a reorganization meant to help slash overhead costs at the company, said Richard Lauer, vice president of the firm.
Overall, the company — which makes and distributes personalized gift items — employs about 330 workers in Springfield.
Excel Logistics, also based in Columbus, provides additional distribution services to Thirty-One Gifts and will also lay off about 18 employees, Lauer said. Officials from Excel Logistics could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.
Most of the positions that will be affected at Thirty-One Gifts are managerial and custodial positions, as well as some support staff. The company is planning to eventually re-hire two of the positions being eliminated and will work with the Clark County Department of Job and Family Services to help find work for the remaining employees, Lauer said.
“We’re doing our best to help them land on their feet,” Lauer said of employees.
Previously, the company was operating seven days a week, 20 hours a day during most weekdays and 12 hours a day Friday through Sunday. Instead, the company will add a day shift and will operate Monday through Friday for a 10-hour day, Lauer said.
“We basically folded our off shifts into another day shift,” Lauer said.
The decision only affects workers at the Springfield location. The company also has a home office in Columbus with about 1,400 employees and an additional distribution facility in Johnstown, Ohio, with about 400 employees.
The change was designed to help streamline the company’s operations and reduce overhead costs, Lauer said.
“We’ve had a good year, and the business is growing,” Lauer said. “It’s not growing quite as fast as we planned, but it’s still growing.”
Thirty-One Gifts opened in Springfield in 2011 with the promise of providing 500 jobs in three years in exchange for tax incentives from the city.
The Ohio Controlling Board also approved a $250,000 rapid outreach grant to help secure Thirty-One Gifts’ presence in Springfield.
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