Central Penn Business Journal Daily, Oct. 25

KBA sees layoffs amid slow sales

By David Dagan
Of Central Penn Business Journal

A York County plant that manufactures printing presses laid off about 20 employees in the past eight weeks because of slow sales.

The KBA North America Inc. facility in Springettsbury Township manufactures presses that are used to print newspapers, tissues and paper towels, and corrugated packaging.

Also, KBA is moving about 20 sales and support positions from the local facility to Vermont. Most of those staff members will keep their jobs and only a handful will have to relocate, said Scott R. Smith, president and chief executive officer of KBA North America’s York division.

The changes leave the York County plant with about 65 employees.

KBA North America Inc. is a subsidiary of a Germany company. The support positions being moved are devoted primarily to equipment that is designed in Germany, not in York. The move puts all the support for German equipment under the management of one office.

The move includes a profitable parts-distribution business the York County plant had been using to tide itself over in slow times. The facility will have less flexibility to keep workers during slow periods in future, Smith said.

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