Ameripol Synpol lays off 78 at Port Neches SBR plant

PORT NECHES, Texas (Jan. 30)—Ameripol Synpol Corp. has laid off 78 employees at its Port Neches plant as part of cost-reduction measures initiated in the wake of the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in December. The layoffs comprise 61 maintenance workers and 17 salaried employees. The maintenance responsibilities will be outsourced, Ameripol Synpol said. "Reductions in our overall costs are a necessary response to changing marketplace demands," said Edwin H. Schmidt Jr., vice president and general manager. "We must become highly cost-efficient in order to compete in today's marketplace." The layoffs drop employment at the emulsion SBR facility to about 200.