Signs of the Economic times: layoffs at Hinckly, receivership at Goetz

The Bangor Daily News reported today that Hinckley yachts laid off 25 more employees from it's Trenton, ME facility after laying off 49 from the same plant last October. The slumping economy remains the reason the luxury yacht manufacturer is cutting back. The latest layoffs reduce the number of employees Hinckley has in Maine to 215.

The layoffs at Hinckley come just a week after Eric Goetz Custom Sailboats, Inc. of Bristol, RI was petitioned into receivership and all of its 75 workers were laid off on Jan. 6. Eric Goetz told the East Bay Newspapers that the inability to obtain refinancing along with termination of a contract by an international customer precipitated the situation.a statement was issued, saying “The company is hopeful that this project will be restarted, however, in order to preserve its assets and to protect its workforce, the company laid off workers on 12/31/08 after having met its payroll and health insurance obligations,” You can read the story about Goetz atEastBayRI.com. Not that I could ever afford a boat from either of these companies, but I hope that this works out. There are a lot of related businesses that benefit from their high-end projects.