Albany International to Close Menasha Plant

Albany International Corp., Rochester, N.H., USA, this week announced it will discontinue manufacturing at its forming fabric facility in Menasha, Wis. The company says the action is based on the need to balance its paper machine clothing manufacturing capacity in North America with anticipated long-term demand. The closure will begin in January.

Albany adds that the closure is a business necessity, driven by existing and expected market conditions, and in no way reflects on the performance of the 48 affected employees, who will be offered severance and outplacement assistance.

Transition of forming fabric manufacturing from Menasha to other facilities in North America will be supervised by technical and manufacturing personnel to ensure continuity of customer supply. The transition is expected to be completed by July 2012.

The Company's Menasha facility will continue to operate as a center of excellence in forming technology and as one of the organization's R&D centers.

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