The hard economic time continues to plague Fenton Art Glass as the company announced the layoff of 23 employees on Friday.
"It was a very difficult decision to make," said president George Fenton. "We have lost very good employees; many of them have been with us more than 30 years."
The employees furloughed are from all departments within the Fenton Art Glass Co. This move leaves about 80 employees retained, Fenton said.
"Earlier this week we met with the union (United Steelworkers Local 508) representatives and discussed the plans to reduce our employees," he said. "This was not an easy thing to do, but it is necessary for us to remain (open).
"It is very unfortunate that we have lost so many good employees who have been part of our business for so long," Fenton said.
According to Fenton, the reduction in number of employees is necessary to ensure that the company can remain in business.
"We are trying to get our costs in line for our sales and to make sure we are here in the future," he said.
The 106-year-old business has been hit hard since the economy began to crumble several years ago, with officials announcing plans to close the family-owned glass factory nearly four years ago.
It was announced in August 2007 the company would close after struggling for years to restructure. It was expected to close that year, but the date was pushed back several times until December 2007 when it was announced Fenton Art Glass would stay open.
"Last year, we continued the process of trying to re-energize our market and I think our retailers and ourselves are still seeing the effects of the tough economy," Fenton stated.
In order to remain in business, the company is working to develop new products in an effort to gain new fans. One of the new lines is Fenton Beads, which are similar to the popular Troll and Pandora beads used in bracelets and necklaces.
The beads have been available in the factory´s gift shop at 700 Elizabeth St. and Sorelle of Marietta since November.
These layoffs are the latest in a number of changes the company has made to cut costs. These changes include streamlining production by producing small groupings of products instead of larger quantities and using recycled glass to create new products.
"We hope that the economy and our sales will pick up so we can hire back all 23 people," Fenton said.
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