25 jobs cut at textile plant in Guilford Rapid-response team to help affected workers

GUILFORD – True Textiles Inc., formerly known as Interface Fabrics Inc. and Guilford of Maine, recently eliminated 25 jobs at its Guilford plants, according to a company official.

“We’ve been going through some slowdowns just like most manufacturers in the country right now,” company spokesman Kirk Cirsman said Friday. “It’s just a matter of a slowdown in business and we’re trying to address that the best we can.”

True Textiles is considered the world’s leading panel fabric producer. Its products include Terratex, a fabric made from 100 percent recycled plastic soda bottles and corn. The company also is a worldwide supplier of fabrics for seating and wall coverings for offices.

Cirsman said that about a year ago the company was part of Interface Inc. but was sold to a capital equity group. A condition of the sale was that the name would be changed to True Textiles Inc.

Cirsman said the 25 jobs were eliminated from the company’s two plants in Guilford. The company also owns a plant in Newport. Among its three Maine factories, True Textiles now employs 520 people. The company also has plants in the Carolinas and Michigan and countrywide employs about 1,100, Cirsman said.

“It’s not just our Maine facilities. We’re affecting people throughout all of our operations,” Cirsman said. “We tried to delay it as long as we could, of course, hoping that some things would change economically, which just haven’t happened.”

Cirsman said some employees who lost their jobs received a severance package and all were given as much notice as could be given. A local rapid-response team is expected to be assembled to help the displaced workers, he said.

Asked if further reductions were expected in the near future, Cirsman said all facets of the company were being monitored. “We don’t anticipate it, but you just have to keep attuned to the business conditions that present themselves. Right now, we hope and believe that what we’re doing now is sufficient.”

Officials from the Maine Department of Labor’s Rapid Response program will be in Guilford at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, to help the displaced workers, program spokeswoman Judy Pelletier said Friday. The program offers help in filing for unemployment, career counseling and job search assistance, resume preparation and health information.

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