KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WFRV) – One of America’s largest full-service providers of branded home services has announced its intentions to close one of its departments at a Fox Valley location, subsequently laying off 37 employees.

According to a letter submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), Leaf Home, located at N2277 W 41 Frontage Road in Kaukauna, will be closing its decking business and terminating employees.

In a statement, Leaf Home says, “Leaf Home made the decision to exit its decking business within Tundraland. There is no impact to its bathroom remodeling business. In compliance with the Department of Labor regulations and applicable federal law, Leaf Home issued a WARN Act announcement to impacted employees, and we’ll be supporting their transition.”

The termination is expected to commence on November 11, 2023, or within 13 days thereafter.

About the employees impacted, Kaukauna Mayor Tony Penterman says, “It’s always sad to hear that people are getting laid off right around the holidays, especially now with inflation and the cost of living. It’s just an overall sad time for those people to be laid off permanently.”

Officials with Leaf Home say these employee layoffs are going to be permanent. The anticipated date of the first separation will be November 11 for five employees, while the remaining 32 will be laid off just after Christmas on December 28. The remainder of the facility will continue to operate after December 28.

Mayor Penterman also gave the impacted employees some advice on what they should do next.

He says, “I’d refer them to jobs service or just let them know what jobs are available here in the city of Kaukauna. Ahlstrom-Munskjo mill is hiring. There are some machine chops in the city that are hiring, so there’s a lot of jobs available.”

Leaf Home says that all affected employees have been notified of their separation dates. The affected employees are not represented by a union; therefore, they do not have any bumping rights.

To see the specific job classifications that are affected, you can click here.