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USNR lays off half dozen

Management says no plan for major downsizing.
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USNR management say despite layoffs, total staff numbers remain the same this year.- Image credit: Jim Elliot/Salmon Arm Observer

Although a few people have recently been laid off by USNR, the general manager says it is not part of a larger downsizing.

“We’re probably about hiring neutral for 2017,” said Rob Seaman, general manager of USNR’s Salmon Arm location, explaining he means that as many people have been hired this year as have been fired.

USNR supplies equipment and technologies for the wood processing industry.

Located in the industrial park, USNR, with the acquisition of Söderhamn Eriksson of Sweden, operates two other facilities in Canada, four in the United States and five in Sweden.

Seaman said a small percentage of the approximate 150-person Salmon Arm staff were let go, “six or less.”

The year has seen no big increases or decreases in staffing, he said.

Since 2011, he estimates USNR has hired about 40 people.

Asked if the softwood lumber tariffs recently imposed by the U.S. will take a toll on the facility, Seaman said he doesn’t expect them to affect USNR dramatically.



Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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