Battery maker Energizer is planning to lay off as many as 100 people from its manufacturing and packaging facilities in Asheboro, about 70 miles west of Raleigh.
The Missouri company notified the N.C. Department of Commerce and indicated the layoffs would take place at three Asheboro facilities between March 15 and Dec. 31.
The layoffs are part of a global restructuring announced last fall that has been caused by a decline in battery sales, said Bonnie Renfro, president of the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation.
The restructuring resulted in the closure of three Energizer plants. Renfro noted that Energizer is cutting staff in Asheboro even though the company moved some manufacturing functions here from a closed plant in Missouri.
Energizer currently employs about 650 people in Asheboro, Renfro said. The layoff, which will affect between 80 and 100 people, is expected to leave between 550 and 570 Energizer workers here, she said.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or