County officials announced that aerospace component manufacturer SPS Technologies would lay off about 250 employees, nearly half the workforce, after a fire struck its factory in Pennsylvania in February.
SPS's parent company, Precision Castparts, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, made the decision.
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Montgomery County Board of Commissions Chairman Neil Makhija stated that the average SPS employee has spent 25 years with the company. He added that SPS management offered the affected employees four weeks of compensation.
In a letter to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffet, Makhija requested an investment from the company's cash reserves to cover expanded severance packages for laid off employees while it considers a rebuild.
The fire at the SPS facility took several days to extinguish. The factory served as a main supplier of fasteners for the aerospace industry. According to Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, the plane manufacturer depended on the SPS location for numerous parts in its 787 and 737 jets.
SPS also supplied fasteners for Blackhawk helicopters, F-15 fighter jets and other military aircraft.
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