CR Compressors announces layoff

By Staff
Emerson Climate Technologies has announced it will lay off 80 full-time and 100 temporary employees at its CR Compressors LLC plant in Hartselle in late October, leaving a workforce of 450.
The move was made primarily as a result of the general decline in the nation’s economy and the stagnant housing and new home construction markets,” according to a statement released by the company late last week. Another contributing factor is the additional expected drop in demand for the reciprocating compressors supplied by the Hartselle plant for air conditioning systems in the U.S. that will occur after the government regulated phase-out of R22 refrigerant.
CR Compressors, formerly named Copeland Corporation, has maintained a strong presence in the Hartselle community since it opened its plant at Thompson Road and I-65 in 1978.
After Jan. 1, 2010, manufacturers will not be able to make compressors that use R22 refrigerant. The prohibition stems from an international environmental treaty signed in 1987 and implemented through Title VI of the Clean Air Act.