Ennovi Advanced Mobility Solutions will close its East Providence plant and lay off the 205 people who work there in January 2025. (Carolyn Lavin for Rhode Island Current)
A Singapore-based manufacturer is shuttering its East Providence plant and laying off more than 200 local workers starting in January 2025, according to a notice filed with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training on July 31.
The pending closure of Ennovi Advanced Mobility Solutions’ plant comes less than a month after another layoff notice issued by Middletown company Kirby Perkins Construction. Kirby Perkins is not closing, but plans to lay off 58 employees in September, according to the notice submitted to the state.
Federal law under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires companies to let state and town officials know about closures and mass layoffs at least 60 days in advance.
The pair of layoff notices, colloquially termed WARN letters, point to changes in company structure and project load as reasons for the respective layoffs and, in Ennovi’s case, an entire plant closure.
Neither of the companies’ affected workers belong to a union.
“This action is due to a strategic realignment and consolidation of Ennovi’s North American manufacturing sites,” Barbara Finch-Byron, human resources manager, wrote in the letter to DLT.
All 205 local employees who work within the Rumford plant will lose their jobs no earlier than Jan. 1, 2025, the same time the plant is expected to close, according to Finch-Byron.
Already, East Providence officials and manufacturing groups are making plans to find new jobs for the workers affected.
“The City of East Providence has already begun collaborating with local manufacturers and the Rhode Island Manufacturers Association (RIMA) to create a job fair for the employees impacted,” East Providence Mayor Bob DaSilva said in a statement on Friday.
Another local manufacturer, igus Inc., has agreed to host the job fair at its Rumford offices next door to the Ennovi plant, according to the city. A date and time for the event has not been scheduled.
Ennovi, which makes electric vehicle parts, has 20 plants worldwide, including two others in North America: in New Jersey, and Mexico.
A company spokesperson did not return inquiries for comment about whether other North American plants would be affected by consolidation plants.
The company, formerly known as Interplex, bought the 120,000-square-foot industrial building at 231 Ferris Ave. for $500,000 in 2007, according to city property records. The site sits between a residential neighborhood and the Ten Mile River trail, directly adjacent to the Wolf School.
As of fiscal 2024, the property was valued at $3.6 million, with an $85,700 annual tax bill.
DaSilva did not respond to questions about how the plant’s closure would impact city tax rolls.
Separately, Kirby Perkins Construction is laying off 58 workers on Sept. 6, according to the July 8 letter from its president, Jerome Kirby. The company is downsizing because one of its major projects, restoration of the historic Miramar estate on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, is ending, Kirby said in his letter.
The company declined to comment when reached by phone on Friday.
Middletown Town Council President Paul Rodrigues and Town Administrator Shawn Brown each did not immediately return inquiries for comment.
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