Bayshore Concrete Products filed a Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification with the Virginia Board of Workforce Development on September 26. The notice indicates that the company will lay off 100 employees at its Cape Charles, Virginia facility.
In a statement released to the Mirror by Pamela Monastra of Skansa:
Bayshore Concrete Products Corporation announces a Reduction in Force at its Cape Charles facility affecting 100 workers to occur in November of this year and early part of 2018, as a result of the plant nearing completion of the large Bayonne Bridge Replacement Project located in New York/New Jersey area.
The Cape Charles Facility employed 350 craft employees at the peak time of construction of the Bayonne Bridge, which had been utilizing Bayshore Concrete Products to construct precast segmental roadway elements for its nearly $1 billion bridge replacement project.
Efforts are underway to place as many affected workers as possible by working with local and state workforce development groups, providing workers access to guidance and counseling through the transition process, and utilizing a worker referral program to the plant’s network of partners and clients for potential employment opportunities.
The announcement came as work is being finished on the $1 billion Bayonne Bridge project in New Jersey, which had been using Bayshore for pre-cast concrete products.
In 2014, the state and local governments gave $1.2 million in incentives for a $4 million investment at the Cape Charles facility instead of another East Coast plant. Gov. Terry McAuliffe at the time announced 135 new jobs.
With work at Bayonne, Bayshore has built concrete docks and piers, spuncast piles, spuncast poles and Raymond concrete piles (from website).
The 90-acre Eastern Shore plant was built in 1961 in part to supply the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel with concrete products, however it recently lost a bid to make precast concrete for the new tube of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel’s Thimble Shoals channel.
Skanska submitted a joint bid on the CBBT project with Kiewit Construction and Weeks Marine, but later withdrew from the bidding process.
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Sad day for Cape Charles. Pray for more contacts
We The People of The Eastern Shore, supported the building of the new tunnel at The CBBT. This was of course done expecting that Bayshore and their parent co. Skansa, would be smart enough to win the contract to build the tunnel, so that there would continue to be jobs for Eastern shore residents and this depressed area. It was also done believing that The CBBT would find a way to recognize and reward our support. The CBBT awards the tunnel concrete contract elsewhere, and our workers are to be laid off. Obviously the CBBT doesn’t feel they need to support The Eastern Shore Community in return, in return, so let’s have our County Supervisors remove the permit to build the tunnel. That way we can help keep the traffic down on Rte 13, and keep it all backed up going through their one tunnel.
Oh, and here’s a heads up for us. When they finish this 3rd tunnel, they will want a 4th.
This is an opportunity to turn area into nice resort extension of Cape Charles. Smart development can replace jobs lost and bring much needed revenue to county. Improving Cape Charles is a win for everyone. This is awesome waterfront location and would be best turned into living/work location
You hit it Keith, this an excellent opportunity to capitalize on future high end development and growth. The plant was stagnant for many years and not continuing a growth curve and did nothing for additional tourism, which is the bread and butter of the eastern shore. We need more visionary developers who want to attract tourists who have money to spend in cape charles. Look at other waterfront communities who have done it right and are thriving towns with excess revenue. Annapolis? Their economy is booming and they don’t have nearly half of the beauty of the shore! Surely there are deep pockets that will help revitalize cape charles and attract real revenue to the shore. Not the little millions, but billions of dollars that is needed to really jumpstart the county and provide tax revenue for a better school system so our kids don’t leave the shore.