A Simpson County printing plant that has been operating for nearly 40 years and once employed nearly 400 workers will close in February.

The 135 employees at the Quad/Graphics – formerly Brown Printing – plant on Brown Road in Franklin were notified Dec. 7 that the plant will close Feb. 1.

A statement from Corporate Communications Director Claire Ho of Sussex, Wis.-based Quad/Graphics said: "The decision is part of the company’s ongoing strategy to produce work where it can achieve the greatest manufacturing and distribution efficiencies and in no way reflects the quality and performance of employees in the plant."

The 600,000-square-foot plant opened as Brown Printing in 1979 and has undergone a series of ownership changes. It has been part of Quad/Graphics since 2010.

Closing the Franklin plant aligns with a Quad/Graphics strategy of consolidating operations as the printing industry undergoes a contraction. The company closed a plant in Minnesota last year and a plant in Pennsylvania earlier this year.

The statement from Ho said Quad/Graphics still has 55 plants and more than 22,000 employees worldwide. She said the Franklin factory specializes in producing retail advertising inserts, work that will be consolidated into other Quad/Graphics locations.