BRILLION, Wis. (WFRV) – AriensCo says it is ending some of its 2nd, 3rd and weekend shift operations at its Brillion campus ‘immediately’.

According to a statement from AriensCo, it is immediately ending some of its Brillion campus 2nd, 3rd and weekend shift operations. The statement mentions that the company is expanding the production output on 1st shift.

Local Five spoke to Keith Diedrich, a former employee of Ariens who quit 2 months ago when he heard rumors of layoffs.

He says, “I was told that I was going to get a promotion in July, but as you can see if I was still working there at second shift, that I would no longer have that.”

Diedrich also tells us he was reassured his job would be safe saying, “It was always just like told that you don’t have to worry. Even at our quarterly meeting, it was told don’t worry about your jobs. You’re safe with us.”

There was no information on the exact amount of employees that are affected.

The impacted employees are reportedly encouraged to apply for these new positions, as well as other positions that are available. The company says it has about 100 positions open for the impacted employees to consider.

There is no other changes reportedly planned. The following statement was also included:

We understand this rebalance directly affects employees and have provided paid time for them to apply for open roles. As a strong, family-owned company celebrating 90 years of business, AriensCo remains committed to supporting our employees, our hometown of Brillion, WI, and our customers around the world. 

Ariens Company

Brillion’s Mayor Mike Smith also provided the following statement to Local 5.

Obviously, this is massive news in our community. It will certainly impact the city’s financial and future growth plans. However, today that is not my greatest concern. My thoughts are with the families who lost, in some cases, both incomes as a result of these layoffs. The city can cut programs and trim costs. Families still need food on the table. Our efforts should first be to unite around those members of our community who will be impacted the most by planning food drives or hosting job fairs with other local employers. We are a resilient community full of honest, hardworking people. We will get through this together.

Mike Smith, Brillion Mayor

No additional information was provided. Local 5 will update this story if more details are released.