Gum Springs Plant Lays Off Workers

The Alcoa plant at Gum Springs announced it is laying off workers. This marks the second time this year the plant is cutting down on employees. Plant officials say they don`t know yet how many jobs will be lost. Plant manager Judy McQueen says the layoffs come after Alcan, a supplier of potliner material, decided to quit sending the stuff to the plant for treatment and disposal. Alcan is handling its potliner -- a byproduct of making aluminum -- internally. She says the departure cut the plant`s business by a third, so it has to cut back staff. In January, the plant cut 14 jobs in a company restructuring plan. The Gum Springs plant currently employs 74 with an annual payroll of seven million dollars. The plant is one of six in Arkansas. In recent months, the company announced it would sell four of the Arkansas plants -- Bauxite, Magnolia, Russellville and Springdale.