Bearings and industrial motion products manufacturer Timken plans to close down a Kansas belt manufacturing plant in the coming months, according to local reports.
Timken spokesman Scott Schroeder told KOAM-TV that the company expects to wind down operations at the Fort Scott, Kansas, facility and close it entirely in 2025. The plant, one of two Timken Belts production facilities, employs 155 people. Most of the company’s belts are produced at the other plant, located in Springfield, Missouri.
Employees at the Fort Scott plant were notified about the plan on Thursday.
Schroeder told the station that the “difficult” change would streamline Timken’s operations, restructure its manufacturing footprint, and improve its competitiveness. The company said it plans to provide retention and severance pay, benefits planning services and counseling to affected workers.
Timken previously announced plans to close a plant in South Carolina early this year.