BEECHER FALLS, VT. (AP) — A furniture manufacturer is planning to expand production at two plants in northeastern Vermont after laying-off almost 400 employees at facilities in North Carolina and New Jersey.
The Caledonian Record reports it's unclear if the restructuring announced by the Connecticut-based Ethan Allen Interiors will lead to additional jobs at the company's plants in Orleans and Beecher Falls.
Ethan Allen is planning to transfer half of the case goods manufacturing done in North Carolina to the Vermont plants and the other half to other locations.
Chet Greenwood, the controller of the Orleans plant, says he doesn't know what the impact will be for the Vermont plants, but "it will mean more opportunities."
The two Vermont plants, which currently employ about 420 people, have been hiring steadily in the past several years.