2 Ohio Companies Announce Mass Layoffs In May

BOWLING GREEN, OH — Two Ohio companies have announced mass layoffs since the start of May, according to filings with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.

Both companies filing for layoffs said they were closing plants or shuttering facilities, resulting in the layoffs of employees.

OPW Engineered Systems in Lebanon said it is permanently closing its facility on Henkle Drive, prompting 103 layoffs between July 6 and Sept. 31. All layoffs will be permanent, the company said in its filing with the the state.

Sunbeam Products in Bowling Green will also shuttered production at its facility on Midstar Drive. The company will permanently layoff 50 employees, with layoffs starting on approximately June 30.

Here are the companies that have announced layoffs recently:

• OPW Engineered Systems in Lebanon — 103 employees
• Sunbeam Products in Bowling Green — 50 employees
• Bechtel Infrastructure and Power Corporation in Wellsville — 63 employees (filed April 6)

The layoffs come as Ohio officials announced they would opt of a federal unemployment program that gave an additional $300 to laid off workers. Gov. Mike DeWine said Ohio's participation in the program was always designed to be temporary.

"When this program was put in place, it was a lifeline for many Americans at a time when the only weapon we had in fighting the virus was to slow its spread through social distancing, masking, and sanitation," DeWine said Thursday. "That is no longer the case."

Unemployment dropped to 4.7 percent in Ohio in March, down from 5 percent in February. Nationally, there were 473,000 unemployment claims last week, another drop in the number of claims filed weekly.