About a year after expanding its operations, Banner Engineering is closing its Aberdeen plant.
Employees were notified of the closure on Thursday, Feb. 29. The plant will close at the end of the year, according to a letter sent to employees.
“Given the current economic conditions and changes in business climate, Banner has determined it is necessary to consolidate our North American operations to remain competitive in the marketplace,” the letter reads.
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Banner employs 311 people in Aberdeen, per the letter.
“This is definitely not the news we wanted to hear and will be a setback for our community,” Mayor Travis Schaunaman said in a social media post. “We had an emergency meeting this morning with our development corporation and will be planning a job fair to connect employees impacted with opportunities around the community.”
The manufacturing now done in Aberdeen will be consolidated into other plants in North America, and Aberdeen workers can apply for one of 100 open positions in Brooklyn Park, Minn., according to the letter.
Brooklyn Park is a Twin Cities suburb.
Banner anticipates that the Aberdeen layoffs will be done “on a rolling basis” throughout the next 10 months, according to the letter. The first round will begin on or within a 14-day period following April 29.
“We regret having to take this action and will work to provide the resources and tools to make this transition as successful as possible,” the letter reads, but it includes no specifics.
Banner issued a news release concerning the plant closure, but it contained no information that wasn’t in the letter given to employees.
While there was talk that there were layoffs at the Aberdeen plant late last year, the company did not confirm the news.
Recent Banner expansion doubled size of Aberdeen plant
In March 2023, Banner announced it was closing its plant in Huron. Those 150 or so employees were able to apply for open jobs in Aberdeen and Brooklyn Park.
At the time, Banner had recently completed an expansion of its Aberdeen plant from 60,000 square feet to about 120,000 square feet. More than 400 people worked in Aberdeen at the time, a Banner official said.
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“It seems like just yesterday that we cut the ribbon on the plant expansion at Banner Engineering, and now they’re announcing a closure that affects 311 Aberdeen employees,” Schaunaman said.
“As soon as we understand the full plans and timeline of Banner, we will be reaching out to all relevant contacts to facilitate conversations about potential uses” of the building, he said.
Banner’s Aberdeen plant is at 715 County Road 19 on the northeast corner of town.
Founded in 1966, Banner is a manufacturer of sensors that are used extensively in material handling, factory automation and robotics for the inspection, sorting and control of automated processes. The company is headquartered in Plymouth, Minn.