Below is a partial list of recent major layoffs and announced hirings compiled through a search of the NEWS’ database. Every story written about job reductions or expansions since January 2000 was revisited, and companies were contacted to see if their plans were achieved to hire 200 people, for example, or recall workers temporarily laid off. Some companies did not return telephone calls for updates.

Most of the temporary layoffs at paper companies, in which workers were to be recalled after a shutdown, are not included in the list.

Layoffs

2001

July 9, 80 people: Jordan’s Meats in Bangor announces the deli-style meat processing plant will be closing in September, eliminating more than 80 positions.

July 5, 710 people: EnvisioNet, a technology support company, confirms that at least 110 of its 770 workers in Orono have left the company. A spokesman cites attrition and not a broad-stroke layoff. The amount of work to do at the facility has declined since May and many of the full-time workers are down to 28 hours a week while still receiving benefits. In May, EnvisioNet said it laid off more than 600 people in Brunswick and Augusta.

June 25, 34 people: International Paper confirms that 31 salaried and three hourly positions in Bucksport will be eliminated by the end of the year. Reduction started at the beginning of the year. IP says 3,000 positions were phased out nationwide.

June 5, 114 people: Sonoco Products Co. in North Anson tells its 114 workers it plans to close its plant that makes wooden reels for cable and wire used by utility companies.

May 23, 50 people: Gates Formed-Fibre Products Inc., which extracts polyester fiber from recycled resins to be used in automotive trunk liners, says high energy costs force the company to close, laying off 50 people.

May 3, 190 people: Olamon Industries, which once employed 190 people on Indian Island, announces it will be systematically laying off most of its remaining 49 employees in May while it looks for a buyer or ceases production of its plastic molding products.

March 29, up to 20 people: An Irving Tanning Co. spokesman in Hartland states it will lay off “a dozen to 20 people” as part of “the normal ebb and flow of a seasonal industry.” The next day, the company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy relief. The company normally employs 360 to 500 people.

March 28, 200 people: Electronics manufacturer SCI Systems Inc. states about one-quarter of its work force, or 200 people, will be laid off in Augusta. Company blames cutback on an economic slowdown. It is the fifth time cuts have been made since SCI took over the former Digital Equipment plant in 1995.

March 23, 230 people: International Paper turns down a $3.49 million offer made by employees who wanted to buy the Passadumkeag Stud Mill. IP continued with plans the following month to lay off 230 people when it closed its lumber operations at Passadumkeag and Costigan Stud Mill.

Feb. 23, 30 people: Pleasant River Lumber Co. cuts half of its 60-person work force because of a weak lumber market. The company is owned by Gerard Crete et Fils of Canada. In July, a manager says those who were laid off were offered their jobs back, and the mill now employs 54 people.

Jan. 18, 16 people: Edwards Systems Technology in Pittsfield lays off 16 top-ranking supervisors and office personnel. This follows a seven-day, without-pay layoff of 60 full-time workers the week before. In January 2001, company employed 400 people in central Maine. Two years ago, company said it had 500 workers in the region.

Jan. 16, 460 people: Dexter Shoe tells 90 employees at its Skowhegan plant that the facility will be closed by the end of April and they will lose their jobs. This follows an announcement in October that the company will close its Newport manufacturing site at the end of December, displacing 65 people. In 1999, the company closed its Milo facility, eliminating 165 jobs, and laid off an additional 140 workers statewide.

2000

Dec. 12, 110 people: Officials at J.D. Irving announce they will temporarily close the Pinkham sawmill in Ashland, affecting 110 people, because of declining prices in the lumber market. The closing took effect Jan. 12. Since then, the mill has reopened with four shifts and 85 employees.

Nov. 16, 41 people: Eastern Fine Paper Co. in Brewer, in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, announces it will be shutting down its No. 3 paper machine indefinitely, laying off 41 workers. The mill’s other 400 employees would not be affected then by the layoffs. Since November, a spokeswoman said the company, which currently employs 380 people, recalled a good number of the 41 people laid off.

Nov. 13, 29 people: Osram Industries in Bangor announces it will lay off at least 10 of its 144 employees because of a 15 percent decrease in sales in recent months. Osram Sylvania, which makes lead wires, is owned by Siemens. The company now employs 115 people, down another 19 employees since November.

Aug. 22, 70 people: HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. announces it will cease production in September and close by mid-October, leaving 70 longtime workers without jobs.

May 30, 200 people: Putnam Investments chief executive officer Lawrence Lasser announces the company will hire 200 people in the area to work from their homes to assist mutual funds clients. A couple months later, it announces similar plans in Waterville. One year later, Lasser said, the Bangor program is at capacity with 80 employees. According to the company’s Web site, Putnam now expects to have 200 employees based out of both state sites.

March 15, up to 300 people: Consumer Response Solutions, a direct response call center initially based in Biddeford, announces plans to locate in Brewer and employ 300 people. The company now is closed, and the date of the closure is not known.

Announced hirings

2001

May 12, 30 people: Putnam Investments chief executive officer Lawrence Lasser said the investment firm based in Massachusetts will add 30 people in a newly formed “fund-pricing” department in Bangor. Most of Putnam’s Maine employees work from their homes and are linked to the Boston operations through computers.

May 14, between 5 and 10 people: Smith & Wesson sells business to an Arizona company, but says Houlton operations will not experience layoffs. At the time, Houlton plant employed 70 people. About 60 people now work at the facility, and at least four new jobs will be added throughout the summer.

April 9, up to 50 people: Mid-Maine Communications announces it’s expanding its Internet service statewide. Since June 1999, company hires about 50 workers.

March 13, 25 people: Brewer Automotive Components, an auto parts maker, receives an $11 million tax-increment financing package to invest in new equipment and to maintain competitive in its industry. With funding, company, which has 90 employees, is able to retain 15 workers which it would have had to lay off and says it has plans to hire 13 more. Last week, company says it is still on track to hire the 13 people.

March 8, up to 160 people: General Electric Co. in Bangor announces a $78 million expansion of its steam turbine facility. The plant, which employs 500 workers, plans to add between 140 and 160 new positions.

March 27, 70 people: Creative Apparel, which makes chemical and protective garments, announces plans to open a plant in Dover-Foxcroft and to hire up to 70 people.

2000

Dec. 15, 12 people: Somatex Inc. in Detroit receives $100,000 Community Development Block Grant from the state Department of Economic and Community Development plus private funding to finance its expansion. The manufacturer and installer of overhead bridge cranes and hoists says it hopes to add 12 people to its staff of 42. Since then, eight people have been hired.

Sept. 5, 200 people: Lamb Weston Inc., one of the largest producers of frozen potato products, announces plans to build a multimillion dollar potato-processing facility at Loring Commerce Centre in Limestone and hire up to 200 employees. In January 2001, the company announces that those plans are on hold.

Aug. 11, 200 people: McCain Foods USA announces it plans to build a $100 million potato-processing plant in Easton and employ about 200 people. In April 2001, the company states those plans are on hold.

April 26, 12 people: IMERYS, a France-based company, reaches an agreement with Great Northern Paper Co. in Millinocket to build a $20 million plant that will reduce air emissions. Up to a dozen jobs are planned.

April 18, 106 people: ZF Lemforder Corp. dedicates its new logistics facility in Brewer. With about $10 million invested in new equipment in another of its Bangor facilities, the company says it has hired 106 people and now employs about 400 workers.

March 27, 80 people: Prexar, the parent company of AcadiaNet, an Internet service provider that employs 40 people in Ellsworth, says it will move its headquarters to Bangor from Ellsworth and add about 80 employees. So far, the Bangor office employs 70 people. The company has purchased numerous Internet service providers since March 2000, and employs 115 people in Maine and New Hampshire.

Bangor Daily News interns Amanda Dumond and Kelly Michaud contributed to this report.