Federal lays off more employees from Minnesota plant

Minnesota-based Federal Premium laid off 14 workers last week, bringing the total number of employees laid off this year to 186, according to the local Star Tribune.

The ammunition company has been coping with declining demand since the end of the presidential election cycle. Since March, the company has downsized from 1,430 workers in Anoka to 1,246.

“Inventory levels have remained high since the election and we are waiting for those inventories to clear. In the meantime, we are finding ways to manage our efficiencies,” Amanda Covington, spokeswoman for Federal’s parent firm Vista Outdoors, told the newspaper.

This month, Vista, which is comprised of mostly ammo and gear companies, reported quarterly sales declined 5 percent from last year and 11.5 percent from last quarter.

The newspaper reported the timing of the slowdown is particularly bad for Federal. Last year it announced a $33.9 million factory expansion and efficiency project in Anoka.

At the time, the company had promised to create 50 new jobs in exchange for a $1.15 million grant from the state, but has since rescinded its grant application after acknowledging it may not be able to deliver the promised jobs.

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