WARN Act mass layoff and plant closure notices in Lebanon, Indiana, updated daily.
| Company | City | Employees | Notice Date | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Distribution Centers | Lebanon | 53 | 2026-01-30 | Closure |
| Navient Solutions LLC | Lebanon | 128 | 2025-08-04 | Layoff |
| Kauffman Engineering | Lebanon | 63 | 2021-11-18 | Closure |
| Hendrickson USA | Lebanon | 129 | 2020-04-27 | Layoff |
| Shopko Operating Stores Co., LLC | Lebanon | 72 | 2014-11-13 | Closure |
| Pearson Education | Lebanon | 209 | 2014-11-04 | Closure |
| Pearson Education | Lebanon | 160 | 2013-12-11 | Closure |
| MI Windows and Doors Inc | Lebanon | 133 | 2008-11-20 | Closure |
# Economic Analysis of Layoffs in Lebanon, Indiana
Lebanon, Indiana has experienced 8 WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notices affecting 947 workers over a roughly 18-year period from 2008 to 2026. While this absolute figure may appear modest relative to major metropolitan areas, the scale of these reductions demands serious attention within Lebanon's local labor market context. A town of approximately 16,000 residents facing nearly 1,000 job losses represents a significant disruption to community economic stability and household income patterns.
The concentration of these layoffs within specific employers underscores the vulnerability inherent in economies dependent on a small number of major employers. The top three companies filing notices—Pearson Education, MI Windows and Doors Inc, and Hendrickson USA—account for 631 of the 947 affected workers, representing roughly 67 percent of all layoffs tracked in Lebanon. This dependency creates structural fragility; when these anchor employers downsize, the ripple effects extend far beyond those directly terminated, affecting suppliers, retail establishments, and service providers throughout the community.
Pearson Education emerges as the single largest source of layoff activity in Lebanon, filing 2 WARN notices that affected 369 workers combined. As a global publishing and educational services company, Pearson's presence in Lebanon represented a significant employment concentration in the information and educational services sector. The company's two separate notifications suggest a staged downsizing rather than a single catastrophic closure, which may have provided slightly more opportunity for affected workers to seek alternative employment. However, the cumulative impact of losing 369 positions from a single employer represents a devastating blow to local employment, particularly for workers with specialized skills in publishing, content development, or educational technology.
MI Windows and Doors Inc, Hendrickson USA, and Naviant Solutions LLC each filed single notices affecting 133, 129, and 128 workers respectively. These three companies collectively shed 390 positions across three separate events, illustrating how diverse industrial sectors within Lebanon's economy have faced workforce contraction. MI Windows and Doors Inc operates within manufacturing, a traditional economic driver for Indiana communities. Hendrickson USA, a transportation components manufacturer, similarly represents the industrial backbone of Midwestern economies. Navient Solutions LLC, primarily known for student loan servicing operations, indicates that even service sector employers with significant footprints in Lebanon have implemented major reductions.
The remaining three employers—Shopko Operating Stores Co., LLC, Kauffman Engineering, and National Distribution Centers—collectively affected 188 workers. Shopko, a regional retail chain that filed a notice affecting 72 workers, experienced the kind of broad retail sector contraction that has defined American commercial landscapes since 2010. The company's eventual bankruptcy in 2019 suggests that the WARN notice in Lebanon's data likely preceded or accompanied broader corporate-level restructuring.
The industry breakdown available for Lebanon's WARN data reveals limited sectoral diversity in the filing database, with only transportation explicitly identified (1 notice, 53 workers). However, a careful analysis of the employers themselves reveals significant representation from manufacturing and industrial sectors. Hendrickson USA and MI Windows and Doors Inc both operate within advanced manufacturing, a sector that has experienced sustained pressure from automation, offshoring, and supply chain consolidation over the past two decades.
Pearson Education's substantial layoffs reflect broader industry dynamics within educational publishing and digital content delivery. The company's shift toward digital platforms and away from traditional print materials, combined with adoption pressures within schools and universities facing budget constraints, has repeatedly prompted workforce reductions across the publishing industry. The fact that Pearson filed two separate notices suggests ongoing structural adjustment rather than a one-time event, indicating that Lebanon's economy absorbed waves of disruption separated by several years.
The presence of Shopko among Lebanon's major layoff events illustrates the retail apocalypse that fundamentally reshaped American commercial real estate and employment patterns. Department store and general merchandise retail experienced sustained decline throughout the 2010s, culminating in mass closures and liquidations by 2019-2020. A single retailer laying off 72 workers in a town of 16,000 represents approximately 0.45 percent of the entire municipality's population—a scale that would strain local employment services and retraining resources.
Lebanon's WARN notice timeline reveals an uneven distribution of layoff events concentrated in specific periods. The earliest notice on record occurred in 2008, likely corresponding to the financial crisis and immediate recession aftermath. A second notice appeared in 2013, suggesting ongoing adjustments in the post-recession economy. The period from 2014 to 2015 saw two notices filed, indicating a clustering of workforce reductions during a period of moderate economic recovery.
A notable gap in notice filings emerges from 2015 through 2019, suggesting relative stability in the major employer base during this five-year interval. This stability may have reflected either genuine employer confidence or simply fewer triggering events requiring WARN notice disclosure. The resumption of notices in 2020 and 2021 aligns with the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic disruptions, though specific notice details in the data do not clarify pandemic causation.
Most significantly, Lebanon faces two additional projected notices for 2025 and 2026, indicating future workforce reductions already announced or anticipated. These forward-looking notices suggest that Lebanon's economy will continue absorbing substantial employment losses in the immediate years ahead. Without detailed information about the employers and worker counts associated with these future notices, the precise scale of upcoming disruption remains unclear, but their presence in the WARN database signals continued economic headwinds.
The loss of 947 jobs over an 18-year period translates to an average of roughly 53 jobs per year leaving Lebanon's economy through WARN-triggering events. In a community with an estimated labor force of approximately 7,500 to 8,000 workers, this represents an ongoing drain averaging roughly 0.7 percent of total employment annually. While individual years show substantial variation—2014 saw approximately 195 jobs lost, while other years recorded none—the cumulative effect reshapes local labor market dynamics, household income distribution, and municipal tax bases.
The concentration of losses among a small number of large employers creates particular vulnerability for workers in specialized fields. Employees of Pearson Education possessed skills in publishing, content development, and educational technology that may not transfer easily to other regional employers. Similarly, Hendrickson USA and MI Windows and Doors Inc workers possessed manufacturing and engineering expertise that remains regionally relevant but highly dependent on cyclical manufacturing demand. The local labor market's ability to reabsorb these workers determines whether they transition smoothly to alternative employment or exit the community entirely.
Municipal tax revenue implications deserve explicit consideration. Large employers file payroll taxes and property taxes that fund schools, infrastructure, and services. A cumulative loss of nearly 1,000 positions reduces the tax base supporting Lebanon's municipal government and school district precisely when displaced workers require expanded social services, job training programs, and community support systems. This creates a fiscal squeeze where revenue declines while service demands increase.
Lebanon's layoff activity must be understood within Indiana's broader economic trajectory. Indiana's manufacturing-dependent economy has experienced repeated workforce reductions throughout the post-2000 period, with particular intensity following the 2008-2009 financial crisis and again during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nationally, Indiana consistently ranks among states experiencing the highest manufacturing employment losses relative to total workforce size.
Lebanon's concentration of losses within specific large employers mirrors patterns observed across smaller Indiana communities. Regional economies depending on anchor employer stability repeatedly experience boom-bust cycles as companies downsize, relocate, or cease operations. Communities like Lebanon that lack the economic diversification of larger metropolitan areas face particularly acute adjustment challenges when individual employers contract.
The prominence of Pearson Education in Lebanon's layoff data suggests that the community hosts a significant corporate facility for this global education company. The company's repeated downsizing affects Lebanon more severely than geographically distributed companies with facilities across dozens of communities. This geographic concentration amplifies local economic impact even when the corporation's overall scale cushions its financial position.
Lebanon's total WARN-triggered job losses remain modest relative to major Indiana cities that have absorbed thousands of positions leaving single manufacturing plants. However, the relative impact on a small community suggests significant economic strain for affected households and measurable challenges for local economic development efforts. The projected notices for 2025 and 2026 indicate that Lebanon's adjustment period extends into the near term, requiring sustained workforce development resources and economic diversification initiatives to support community resilience.
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