70 Superior Sand employees get permanent layoff notices

BARRON — According to a report in the Barron New-Shield, “Nearly 70 employees of Superior Silica Sands lost their jobs as part of a round of permanent layoffs announced on March 21st.”

The job cuts affect facilities in Barron, Chetek, New Auburn, Clayton, and Prairie Farm. The 69 positions include workers who were previously on temporary layoff status and additional permanent reductions, according to a letter to the Department of Workforce Development, written by Rick Shearer, Superior Silica Sands CEO and President.

In the letter, Shearer said that all the affected employees have been notified of their separation date, and that the layoffs are permanent.

Superior Silica Sands is a subsidiary of Emerge Energy Services, the announcement said.

Shearer said that the company would pay the employees all of their earned wages. The announcement also said that employees would be paid 60-days wages in lieu of advanced notice, as applicable. Shearer said that the layoffs account for about 40 percent of the company’s Barron County workforce.

“With the market conditions the way they are, no one has found a way to move forward in this historic down cycle, without making some painful austerity decisions,” he said. “The consensus of our customers is that we have bottomed out, but we’ll have to see how long it takes to recover.”

The company’s wet sand processing plant, in the town of Arland, will remain in shutdown mode.

The Poskin dry sand plant and rail yard will continue to operate and the company expects to open a new mine in southeastern Barron County on May 1, and will create 11 new jobs to run it.

The company has delayed the opening of additional mines because of the stockpiles that they have in place.