MORGANTOWN — More than six months after the public announcement, news that Mylan Pharmaceuticals, now Viatris, is closing its Chestnut Ridge facility and pulling more than 1,400 jobs out of Morgantown continues to reverberate through the community.
Earlier this week, the Monongalia County Commission received formal confirmation of the closing from Viatris by way of a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice.
The notice, from Jaspal Ahluwalia, head of OSD Site Operations (Morgantown) for Mylan, estimates a total of 1,431 employees will be laid off or “separated from employment.”
It is expected that the vast majority of those — 482 non-union and 764 union — will be laid off on July 31, which is expected to be the day manufacturing operations cease.
The notice goes on to explain that limited wind-down and closure activities will continue beyond that date, “possibly through March 31, 2022.”
Along with Commission President Sean Sikora, copies of the notice were provided to Morgantown Mayor Ron Dulaney and the West Virginia Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Dislocated Worker Division and Rapid Response Team.
Earlier this month, Russ Rogerson, president and CEO of the Morgantown Area Partnership, told the commission his organization is working the Viatris closing from multiple angles.
He said MAP is putting together a workforce development committee, the initial focus of which will be aiding Viatris employees.
Rogerson explained that in addition to a job fair, most likely to be held in June, MAP is also working on a website that will be a job portal for local job postings.
Efforts also remain underway to bring a new company or companies into the former Mylan facility.
Rogerson said there have been a number of inquiries so far.
“None of those are at the point where I can say we have imminent decision-making, but just wanted you to know there is activity and interest in that facility,” he said.
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 is a US labor law which protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide 60 calendar-day advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs.
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