(Host) The sudden closing of a Randolph water bottling facility has thrown dozens of people out of work and sent the state scrambling to help them.
ClearSource Incorporated shut down last week, taking state and local officials by surprise.
The Randolph plant bottled water under the brand name Vermont Pure before it was sold four years ago.
ClearSource is part of a larger, Pennsylvania based bottled water company.
Labor Commissioner Patricia Moulton Powden says the state first learned of the closing when workers began inquiring about unemployment benefits.
Powden says the company has told her that it employed 76 people at the plant.
Earlier this year, about 150 people were laid off at stove maker Vermont Castings in Randolph and neighboring Bethel.
Powden says the added impact of the ClearSource closing is a significant blow to the local job market.
(Powden) "Obviously that’s another big hit for Randolph, given the layoffs from Vermont Castings, and that’s not easy in a relatively small labor market area."
(Zind) By law, employers with more than 100 workers are supposed to notify the state before they lay off more than 50 workers at a single site.
Powden says the state is looking into whether ClearSource violated that law.
(Powden) "We can’t confirm at this point exactly how many employees ClearSource has. But that is something that we’re looking at, as to whether or not those requirements have been met."
Calls to ClearSource were not returned.
The Vermont Department of Labor is holding a meeting for ClearSource workers next Wednesday morning at 9 at the Braintree Town Hall.