A major manufacturer in the City of Olean is closing its doors.
Officials with Daltile announced Thursday afternoon that the company is ending operations at its plant on South Clark Street. 174 people work at the facility.
The mosaic tile maker has been studying the long-term viability of the Olean plant and one in Gettysburg, PA in recent months.
"Unfortunately, the company felt that it was unable to make the necessary investments in the Olean facility to keep it operational," said Assemblyman Joseph Giglio.
State Senator Catherine Young says the outcome is "disappointing and heartbreaking." But she says a significant downturn in sales was too much to overcome and the plant was only operating at 40 to 50 percent capacity.
Young says a government incentive effort was unable to convince the company to keep the plant operational.
“We worked very hard in partnership with Empire State Development and local officials to put together a package," Young told WBFO and AM 970 News. "It went above and beyond what New York State usually offers. I feel strongly we did everything we could.
"At the end of the day, this is a private company, and they made a decision to go to Pennsylvania."
Young says a Department of Labor Rapid Response team will come to the city to help workers find new jobs and apply for unemployment benefits.
She says operations are tentatively scheduled to end on December 13.
