About 150 LSC Communications workers to stay on as it winds down Lancaster operations

As LSC Communications approaches the closure of its two Lancaster County factories about 150 of the 656 workers are expected to remain through early April.

They are needed "for plant decommissioning; we expect their job searches will pick up then," wrote Melissa Noebes, senior vice president LSC Communications, in a Tuesday email to LNP|LancasterOnline.

It originally had been announced that the plants - remnants of longtime county employer R.R. Donnelley - were to close on Friday, but winding down work is taking a bit longer than expected.

Neither of the two plants located at 1375 Harrisburg Pike and 216 Greenfield Road have been sold as of Monday, according to county tax records, and the properties are also not listed as for sale on industrial/commercial real estate sites loopnet.com or crexi.com.

Both printing plants are in Lancaster city. Workers there are not part of a union.

An employee said some workers have already left for new jobs.

"Production is winding down, with most people scheduled to be done March 31," the employee told LNP | LancasterOnline. He said some will remain into April to finish work they’re still contracted to produce. He said workers had not heard any plans for what is to become of the buildings or property after closure.

LNP | LancasterOnline agreed not to use the name of the worker interviewed for this story because he is worried about retribution for speaking to the media. When the company announced its closure plans in January, it directed workers not to talk with the media and not post anything about the situation on social media.

Noebes said that more than half of the LSC Lancaster workforce has already found employment.

"Over 50 of those are transfers within our company and another 100-plus found good-paying jobs, many through the job fairs we hosted in cooperation with the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce where over 90 companies participated in the recruitment event," she said in the email.

A dozen are going back to school and another dozen are retiring. The company will continue to provide support and counseling as they move through the retirement process. She said 150 did not respond to a survey by the company, so their status is unknown.

"We continue to keep our Team Resource Center open, providing job hunt training, resume writing and interview skills support," Noebes said in the email. "Last week we held a Social Security workshop and we’ve started a Retirement Club, anticipating that many of those who did not respond to the survey are actively considering their retirement options. The Social Security workshop was scheduled at their request."

The worker said there is still a lot of material and machinery that will need to be moved out of the facilities, and that will take some time.

"Machine operators are being allowed to take home their toolboxes and tools, and I think that's a great gesture," the worker said. "And excess equipment (filing cabinets, chairs, shelves, etc.) not earmarked for specific uses or locations is being offered up to employees for free. I think that's generous, too."

The worker said that local management has done a lot to help ease people through this transition.

"We were given three months’ notice that this was going to happen," he said. "We had workshops for interviews and resumes, retirement/Social Security, finding benefits. CareerLink was in as well as the unemployment folks. All on paid company time, not to mention they paid us for two days that they shut down both plants and had a huge job fair just for LSC employees. I’m sure a lot of places don't get that much help when something like this happens, and I’m grateful for it."

Vice President of Operations Robert Peris confirmed that employees will get tool boxes and some furniture.

"Through our employee request process we are encouraging employees to take home for free their tool boxes and tools, as well as other equipment, furniture, and wall hangings, etc.," he wrote in an email Tuesday. "We are happy to be able to do so, as our workers are deserving in many ways. The character of the Lancaster workforce is remarkable. Over the past five decades, the committed and skilled workers in Lancaster have connected people and business through print communications including telephone directories, catalogs, magazines and periodicals. Our workforce continues to impress until the end. We take comfort knowing that our employees are finding opportunities of value and we are confident they will continue to have a positive impact in the workforce and in society."

The worker told LNP | LancasterOnline that some colleagues aren't happy about the changes but people are ready to move on to the next chapter of life they have planned once this one comes to a close. "And I count myself as one of them," he said.

Noebes said each team member will receive a copy of a memory book as a memento of the great work they did in Lancaster and the wonderful time they spent together.

"With the exception of a very few, morale is high, although there is an air of melancholy as we close out this chapter in American printing," Noebes said.

LSC's closure is the direct result of a steady decline in the printing industry, Noebes said.

The company told LNP | LancasterOnline in January that it was consolidating some print operations in 2023, including the two Lancaster print facilities. Work currently produced here was moved to long-run print facilities in Maple Grove, Minnesota, and Warsaw, Indiana.

"The type of printing we do in Lancaster is simply not done in the volume it once was," Noebes wrote Tuesday. "Our plants with more versatile capabilities remain open and continue to serve our customers with quality work and a level of customer service that is legendary in the industry… all thanks to our team members."

Greenwich, Connecticut-based private equity firm Atlas Holdings acquired the plants as part of a $347.5 million bankruptcy sale of LSC Communications in December 2020.

At the time the plants employed about 1,200 people producing magazines, catalogs and newspaper advertising inserts.

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