Herff Jones, LLC is closing its Iola manufacturing facility Oct. 1, likely leaving 80 or so employees out of a job.
The pending closure was announced Tuesday in a press release, where company officials said Herff Jones will transfer the diploma-making services from its Iola location to the company’s headquarters in Indianapolis.
The approximately 80 impacted local employees will be offered the opportunity to relocate to Indianapolis.
Those who choose not to will be offered severance benefits, outplacement and career transition support.
“Our employees in Iola deserve credit for delivering outstanding quality to our customers and possessing great pride of workmanship,” Herff Jones President John Newby said in the company statement. “The decision to close the Iola facility, which was the result of an extensive strategic review process, does not reflect the efforts of our employees, but is a step to continue realigning our manufacturing capacity.”
Employees were notified about the pending closure Tuesday afternoon, shortly before the plans were made public.
HARRY J. Herff and Randall H. Jones founded Herff Jones in Indianapolis in 1920. The company manufactured class rings and other types of jewelry.
It was purchased by Carnation Company in 1973, shortly after opening its Iola facility in 1972. (The Iola plant was then known as Inter-Collegiate Press.)
Herff Jones bought back its assets in 1935, and became an independent company.
Herff Jones remained an employee-owned company until it was purchased last fall by an investment group led by Charlesbank Capital Partners, for a reported $1.5 billion.
Herff, which was renamed Varsity Brands in the summer of 2014, also sells other items, such as yearbooks, cheerleading apparel, trophies and diplomas.
