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Company closing, moving to Belgium

FRANKLIN, Ind. (WISH) – A manufacturing company is closing their doors and moving their operations to Belgium by the end of the year.

Atlas Copco, that makes specialty high-pressure compressors and boosters, released in a letter to employees that they would be laid off when the company closed their doors.

The company also notified the mayor in a letter that they would be leaving the city.

“Closing a facility is a tough decision, but this change is a necessary element of our strategic plan to create a global competency center for specialty products used in the oil and gas industry,” said Peter Lauwers, president of the Atlas Copco Portable Energy division. “Centralizing our engineering, manufacturing and logistics resources is an instrumental step in ensuring we continue to advance our booster and compound compressor range, to service our customers around the world.”

The departure of the company will leave 32 employees without a job, and a large building vacant in the city.

Atlas Copco will offer a severance package to employees.

Officials also plan to sell the facility after the timing of the closure is set, Humphreys said.

The company stated that Franklin is one of two plants closing. The other plant is located in Germany, and is being relocated to Spain.