PORTLAND, Maine — Precision manufacturer Midstate Berkshire has laid off 70 of its 250 employees in Maine and plans to close its Waterville location by year’s end, moves it said were prompted by a sharp decline in demand for components supporting oil and gas markets.
CEO Duane Pekar said in a news release that demand has dropped more than 30 percent in the past year in the company’s key markets, including the defense industry, power generation, aerospace and oil and gas.
“We never want to make workforce reductions; however, in this case, to remain competitive, we have to align ourselves with the current volume,” Pekar said in a prepared statement.
Debra Breski, the company’s vice president for human resources, said in a telephone interview that the sharp and sudden collapse of oil prices last year led to fewer wells being drilled and lower demand for certain components the company produces.
Defense contracting, she said, has also been a tough market in recent years.
The layoffs took effect Thursday, the company said, and the consolidation of its Waterville location into its facilities in Winslow is expected by the end of the year.
Breski said the company is taking other internal cost-cutting measures, and Pekar said he hopes the cuts will position the company to expand and rehire some of the employees laid off Thursday as market conditions improve.
Midstate has its headquarters in Westfield, Massachusetts, and is owned by the Texas-based private equity firm Insight Equity Holdings LLC, which purchased Midstate in January 2014.