Lennox to Cut 250 Jobs in Marshalltown

On Saturday the Marshalltown Time Republican reported that Lennox Manufacturing plans to cut 250 jobs in Marshalltown. 150 employees will be laid off in August and 100 more will be layed off later in the year.

In 2004, Lennox agreed to a 4 year deal from the Iowa Values Fund to keep jobs in Marshalltown.

Turning to state government, the Iowa Department of Economic Development’s (IDED) Iowa Values Fund Board is trying to save the jobs of 1,100 workers at the Lennox International plant in Marshalltown by providing $6.6 million in assistance to the company.

Of the money, $1.6 million will be used to train Lennox workers in advanced manufacturing to make the company’s operations more competitive for further investment.

The remaining funding, $5 million, is a forgivable loan to help pay for an $18.5 million upgrade to the facility, which includes new machinery and equipment, during the next four years.

The state ended up giving Lennox $6.6 million over 4 years and now at the end of agreement, Lennox is cutting almost a quarter of the workforce in Marshalltown. This is exactly why the Iowa Values Fund is a terrible program. At the end of the agreement, the state has nothing to show from its $6.6 million investment.