Cives Steel Company is closing its steel fabrication and design facility located in Thomasville, Georgia after its business declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to media reports, Greg Orff, president of Cives said that the pandemic had triggered the closure by causing economic decline that led to unexpected circumstances that could not be sustained. The pandemic had exacerbated the difficulties already being faced by the structural steel fabricator owing to its location in Georgia, which is a tough market geographically.
The majority of staff have been laid off already with some employees remaining to gradually bring operations to a close. Local authorities are working towards taking on any employees that lost jobs. The government is also arranging a virtual job fair, Orff added.
The Southern division opened 39 years ago to supply steel for building projects. Cives was named Georgia’s 2016 small manufacturer of the year.
The Cives corporation based in Alpharetta has seven North American locations that remain in New York, Maine, Virginia, Mississippi, Idaho, its most recent facility in Arizona, and Indiana that has a production capacity of 20,000nt (18,144mt) per year.