Schwebel's Closing Solon Facility: More Details Released

SOLON, OH — More than 200 people will lose their jobs when Schwebel's Baking Company closes its Solon facility this year.

Layoffs are expected to begin on May 16, according to a letter filed with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. The layoffs could continue for about two weeks, with 204 employees losing their jobs at the end of the process.

Nearly half of the impacted employees are production workers at the plant. Some of the employees are represented by the Teamsters Union.

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This is the second major plant closing for Schwebel's in the past decade. In 2013, the company shuttered its Cuyahoga Falls plant, long visible from Route 8. Following that closure, the Solon facility actually expanded.

With the Camp Industrial Road plant, in Solon, closing, Schwebel's will be reduced to having two production facilities in Hebron and Youngstown.

"Decisions like this are always difficult and not easy," Lori Mickholtzick, the company's director of human resources told the Business Journal. "The employees in Solon will be given the opportunity to apply for jobs that are open in its other manufacturing and distribution facilities."

Of the 204 impacted jobs, 91 are production workers. Among the other impacted jobs are the superintendent, chief engineer, two distribution supervisors, quality assurance, and more. The entire list of impacted jobs was part of the company's filing with the state.

Schwebel's is hoping the shuttering of the Solon plant will allow the company to remain competitive in its market. Schwebel's is one of the largest, privately owned baking companies in the U.S., with distribution centers in Ohio, West Virginia, New York and Pennsylvania.