Tagged: Berlin

After about 25 years the Car-Freshner plant in Berlin is closing.

Judy Piarulli, an official at Car-Freshner’s headquarters in Watertown, N.Y.,  declined to say how many workers are losing their jobs.

But Diana Nelson, an official with New Hampshire Employment Security office in Berlin, said 46 workers were laid off.

She said another 24 part-time workers lost their jobs in February.

The plant makes the Little Trees brand of air fresheners typically seen hanging from rear-view mirrors.

After Isaacson Structural Steel was sold off in a bankruptcy auction last month it wasn’t certain what would happen to the employees. But NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports it’s clear now and the news is not good.

In a blow to the North Country more workers at Isaacson Structural Steel in Berlin are being laid off.

About 80 have already lost their jobs with another 40 still on the job finishing up a project, says Diana Nelson with New Hampshire Employment Security.

“There will be a handful of employees at Isaacson’s through mid-April.”

After that, Nelson expects the plant to be shuttered.

The company was purchased by three firms that specialize in selling off industrial equipment.

The Manchester lawyer who handled the bankruptcy of Isaacson Structural Steel in Berlin will receive about $313,000 for his work if a federal judge approves.

In a recent filing William Gannon asked the judge for $191,000 for his work between September 1st and February 29th.

Previously the judge approved about $122,000 for work between June 22ndand August 31.

In the filing Gannon said he worked about 444 hours at $400 an hour in addition to work done by his staff.

He has said much of his work involved trying to find a buyer who would save the jobs and continue to operate the business.

Isaacson sold last month for $2.4 million to three companies that specialize in selling off industrial equipment.

There were three bidders hoping to buy Isaacson Structural Steel with a $100,000 difference determining the winning bid, according to a report filed Thursday in federal district court in Concord.

The top bid was $2.4 million by Counsel RB Capital, Myron Bowling Auctioneers and Hilco Industrial.

Koster Industries, which disposes of industrial equipment, bid $2.3 million.

At an auction today/Wednesday in Manchester an Ohio company made the highest bid for the bankrupt Isaacson Steel. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

Last year Isaacson filed for bankruptcy leaving the future of about 150 North-Country workers in doubt.

Earlier this year a Whitefield firm bought a small portion of the business, an action expected to save about 20 jobs. But the larger portion was auctioned off.

William Gannon. represents Isaacson.

“The high bidder for the assets was a company named Myron Bowling. And the highest offer was two million, four hundred thousand dollars.”

Ohio-based Myron Bowling Auctioneers specializes in selling off industrial equipment.

Hopes that someone would buy bankrupt Isaacson Steel in Berlin and continue the business are fading. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

Throughout Isaacson’s bankruptcy the hope has been that someone would buy the steel-fabricating firm, operate it and save about 130 jobs.

That seems less likely now.

A filing in federal district court Monday shows a Texas firm that specializes in selling off industrial equipment has a tentative deal to buy Isaacson’s assets.

The company is Investment Recovery Services of Fort Worth.

Wednesday an auction of Isaacson is scheduled.

The Federal Correctional Institute in Berlin probably won’t get its first inmates for about a year but it has begun hiring, says Deborah Schult, the warden.

“Right now our major focus is staffing, staffing, staffing,” Schult said Friday night at the Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner in Gorham.

The prison had been empty while awaiting funding from Congress, which came late last year.

“Last year we had 16 of us on site. Now we have hired 32,” she said.

New Hampshire Business Review is reporting that a potential buyer for the Isaacson Structural Steel in Berlin has fallen through.

The review reports Heico, a construction conglomerate, was seriously considering buying the company but has since backed out.

An auction is currently set for February 29th, raising a question about the future of the company’s roughly 150 employees.

Presby Environmental, a Whitefield company, recently bought a smaller part of the business that sells steel.