State filing: LI aerospace manufacturer to close plant, lay off 39
A nearly 170-year-old manufacturer that made fasteners for the plane Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic will close its Westbury plant and lay off 39 workers later this year, according to state filings.
Founded in 1850, John Hassall LLC will close the plant at 609 Cantiague Rock Rd. by Nov. 30, according to the state. The company cited “economic” reasons for the plant closure in its state WARN notice.
Executives from John Hassall and its parent company did not respond to requests for comment.
The state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, requires companies with at least 50 full-time employees to file a notice of a mass layoff or closing 90 days in advance.
Hassall, which makes custom-designed metal parts and fasteners for the aerospace, automotive, defense and other industries, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2014. The company reported at the time that it could lay off its entire staff of 83 employees between July 28 and August 10, 2014.
The following year, the firm staged a turnaround after being purchased by Texas-based Novaria Group.
Novaria said it planned to move its subsidiary, Sky Aerospace Products, from Los Angeles to John Hassall’s 65,000-square-foot Long Island facility.
To encourage that move, Empire State Development, the state’s primary business-aid agency, said in December 2015 that it would provide up to $1.2 million in tax credits to Novaria, which agreed to retain John Hassall’s 81 jobs, add 57 more and maintain those employment levels through 2025.
But the company did not file appropriate paper work, including an intial employment report, and was never awarded the tax breaks, according to ESD.
The WARN notice filed last week lists the Westbury plant as having a total of 39 employees.
In 2016, the company was awarded low-cost electricity from the state Power Authority for its planned investment of $300,000 in Hassall's operations and the creation of jobs. An NYPA spokesman said the company ultimately did not accept the power allocation.
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