MIDDLETOWN — Packaging Corporation of America will lay off about 90 employees as part of a plant closure in Middletown, according to a state filing submitted Oct. 1.
Most of the employees will be let go from the company’s Baltimore Street plant — a corrugated manufacturing facility — on Dec. 1, according to the filing. “This was a difficult business decision,” wrote company attorney Mark Romaniuk in the filing. “It is in no way a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our valued employees.”
The announcement comes days after nearly 1,400 workers were laid off from the former Navistar truck factory in nearby Springfield, and amid fresh national data showing unemployment ticking up to 4.2% in September as U.S. employers added just 29,000 jobs — lower than expected. Middletown is the hometown of Vice President JD Vance.
The layoffs add to a difficult week for Ohio manufacturing workers, with the state’s transportation and industrial sectors under pressure from high fuel costs and tariffs.
