(Host) Rutland is reeling with the news today that MetroGroup – a direct mail company that employs close to 250 people – will close its Rutland plant in the next few months.
VPR’s Nina Keck has more.
Keck) MetroGroup has a 175,000- square-foot plant in Rutland where it prints, packages and mails millions of pieces of direct mail every day.
No one from the company’s corporate headquarters in Nebraska would return calls, but Tom Donahue of the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce, confirms the plant will close.
(Donahue) “Just about an hour ago I heard the news and it is a shock. It’s a real punch in the gut, if you will. It’s tough for the local economy – it’s tough on all of us hearing this kind of news and it’s going to be very difficult for those folks who now find themselves unemployed. And that’s a concern for all of us – that we need to rally around these people and help them find gainful employment in the area.”
(Keck) The news of the plant’s closure comes just months after Omya – another long time employer – announced plans to move its corporate headquarters out of the area as well.
For VPR News, I’m Nina Keck in Rutland.