CPFilms Makes Cuts

Martinsville, Va.-based CPFilms Inc. laid off 39 employees at its production plant in Martinsville on March 15. According to Melissa Hammonds, public affairs specialist for St. Louis-based Solutia Inc., CPFilms' parent company, the layoffs resulted from an efficiency review the company had conducted.

"We had done a review of our business specific to the Martinsville area to see the efficiency with how we had run that plant, and through that review we determined that we could improve the efficiency of the plan with some cuts," Hammonds says. Hammonds notes that the cuts had nothing to do with cutting costs at the facility. "The business is at the top of its market," she says. "It was just a necessary step to improve operations there at the plant and maintain our leadership in the market." Those employees whose jobs were cut received severance packages, along with other assistance.

"We set up a career center to help the affected employees through this transition," Hammonds says.