Quadion Corp., which does business as Minnesota Rubber & Plastics, plans to close its Watertown, S.D., facility by the fourth quarter of 2014.

The Minneapolis-based company said it has significant excess capacity in its worldwide manufacturing operations, and that the Watertown plant is located in an aging building, which was built in 1966, with antiquated manufacturing equipment.

Production will be transferred to facilities in Litchfield, Minn.; Mason City, Iowa; Reynosa, Mexico; and Suzhou, China.

Quadion also has plants in Plymouth, Minn.; River Falls, Wis.; Irvine, Calif.; and Pac-sur-Eure, France. The company molds products from rubber and thermoplastics and employs more than 1,000.

The closure impacts 171 employees, according to the South Dakota Department of Labor and Regulations. The company and the state are working to find employees positions with other companies.

Quadion was acquired by private equity firm Norwest Equity Partners of Minneapolis in September 2012.

Source: rubbernews.com