John Crane to Lay off 70, Close Cranston Plant

Rapid reponse teams out of the Department of Labor and Training's workforce development office will be counseling workers at the John Crane plant on Sharpe Drive after the company announced it will close the plant and lay off 70 workers.

DLT spokeswoman Laura Hart said the company filed a notification with the state labor department that they would shut down the plant in a staggered fashion, beginning in the near future and wrapping up in June.

Seventy employees at the plant will lose their jobs.

Hart said the employees will be counseled and provided assistance finding new jobs. They will also be offered unemployment insurance.

John Crane Inc. is a subsidiary of global conglomerate Smiths Group. The company manufactures performance and industrial mechanical seals.