Suzlon plans 160 employee layoffs

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PIPESTONE — The community of Pipestone was shaken Friday by the news that wind power company Suzlon planned to lay off half the workforce at its Pipestone turbine blade plant.

According to a letter sent to the City of Pipestone, Suzlon anticipates the elimination of 70 positions by Aug. 2 and will likely cut another 90 positions by the end of September.

“I think the community as a whole sees it as a crushing blow, so to speak,” said Laurie Ness, mayor of Pipestone.

The economic downturn had already struck in Pipestone when Bayliner boat manufacturer U.S. Marine announced the closure of its Pipestone plant in October 2008, leaving more than 200 people without jobs.

Suzlon had hired some of those who had been let go, Ness said, buffering some of the impact.

Now, that buffer is gone.

“This is obviously a blow to our economic health and the morale of the community,” Ness said.

Ness and Pipestone’s city administrator, Jeff Jones, both expressed hope that Suzlon will recover with the rest of the U.S. economy and rehire its workers.

“They’re still operating out there and we have fairly limited resources we can offer,” Jones said. “We hope they’ll be able to get back on their feet as the economy rebounds.”

City officials are scheduled to meet with the local economic development authority today, Jones said. By working together, the groups hope to offer some kind of assistance to laid-off workers and the community at large.

“We’ll do everything we can to help,” Ness said. “In a time when the state of Minnesota is cutting (local government aid) funds, we’re not sure how much we can do. But we’ll do everything we’re able to.”

Some of the city’s actions will depend on which positions are eliminated, Ness explained. Though Suzlon’s manufacturing facility is in Pipestone, the company has also been busing in employees from Sioux Falls, S.D., Worthington, and other area cities.

The impact on Pipestone would be smaller if most of the workers who lost positions came from other cities — though the impact on southwest Minnesota and the tri-state area would be the same.

When Bayliner closed in 2008, the City of Pipestone facilitated job fairs and collaborated with other organizations to help displaced workers find work. Pipestone has also continued to market the vacated Bayliner buildings to other businesses in hopes of restoring some of the lost jobs.

Ness and Jones plan to meet with Suzlon officials this week to talk about the layoffs and make plans to minimize the effect on the Pipestone area.

“I’m hopeful, with the economy turning around… that (Suzlon) will be able to get back to full staff out there, and the demand for blades will be back to what they were expecting,” Jones said. “At one point they were several years out with orders, but again, with the economic downturn, I know some of those projects weren’t able to get financed.”

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