A Mineola manufacturing company will lay off 69 workers this summer before closing its factory in the fall, the firm told the state Department of Labor.
Allenair Corp. plans to close its 59-year-old, 200,000-square-foot air cylinder factory at 255 E. Second St. on Sept. 19 for economic reasons, according to a March 23 notice posted on the Department of Labor website.
The 69 employees will end work with the company, which manufactures pneumatic cylinders and other products, between July and September, according to the notice. The workers are not represented by a union.
Allenair Corp. was founded in Brooklyn in 1945 and moved to the five-acre Mineola site in 1958, according to the company’s website. Its products, which are used in manufacturing facilities and machines, are sold across the United States and internationally, according to online information.
It does business under two other names, according to the notice: A.K. Allen Co. Inc. and Allen Avionics Inc., which manufactures electronic components used in video studios and satellite communications systems.
The notice did not say whether the company is ceasing business for good or moving to a different location. A representative for Allenair did not return a phone call seeking comment.
The notice was posted under the Workforce Adjustment and Retraining Act, a state law that requires companies to give advance notice of closings and layoffs that affect at least 25 employees.
Manufacturing accounts for about 3 percent of Long Island’s jobs, and employment in the industry fell 6.4 percent between 2009 and 2015, according to a 2015 Long Island Index report.
But the number of jobs in the electronic manufacturing industry has been projected to grow between 2012 and 2022, according to a 2015 state Department of Labor report, which said the average annual wage in that industry is $71,900.
Tony Lubrano, president of the Mineola Chamber of Commerce, said the closing of the Allenair plant is an “isolated incident” in Mineola, where new apartment complexes have drawn several new retail businesses and restaurants in recent years.
“I think it’s more an anomaly than any kind of trend, because I think the trend is going in the other direction,” said Lubrano, who owns the Italian restaurant Piccola Bussola.
