Another Hudson Valley Company Closing, 100 Workers to be Laid Off

An estimated 100 Hudson Valley employees will soon be out of work as another Hudson Valley company announces its closure.

We told you earlier this month about the closure of Purpose Built Brands' Hudson Valley plant. The company's plant in Elmsford is responsible for manufacturing cleaning products under various brand names such as Goo Gone and Weiman. The closure will affect the jobs of 84 Hudson Valley residents.

The closing came after last year's shuttering of the Ball aluminum can factory in Wallkill, New York and the closure of the Avon facility in Rockland County. Those companies were forced to lay off over 280 workers.

Now, another local company is ceasing operations and will be laying off another 100 local workers.

New Windsor, New York Company Permanently Closing on March 6

On February 20, 100 local workers were abruptly notified that they would be laid off on March 6. Zena Delivery & Logistics, a partner of the Amazon warehouse in New Windsor says they were giving employees as much notice as possible in light of the "rapid pace at which this situation developed".

The New Windsor company, which provides delivery services for Amazon, says they are shutting down the company due to insurance costs.

In September 2023, the Company’s insurance carrier provided renewal quotes for its auto and general liability policies. Those renewal quotes represented a 420% increase in what the Company had been paying, making it impossible for the Company to continue as a viable business venture and be insured by its current insurance carrier.

Zena explains that it attempted to obtain insurance from other companies, but has been unable to do so.

100 Hudson Valley Employees to be Laid Off

Workers for Zena Delivery & Logistics were notified this week that their positions will be eliminated and their benefits will end on March 6. The company is trying to convince employees not to quit before March 6 by offering to help get them a position with another delivery service that partners with Amazon.

A "Questions and Answers" sheet threatens that if employees leave now they will have to run a new background check and take another drug test. Zena claims this will not be necessary if workers stay until the closure date, promising that  Amazon will support workers in transitioning to another delivery service provider. We were unable to verify these claims and noted that Zena has a disclaimer that says new positions are not guaranteed.

Representatives from Zena Delivery & Logistics did not immediately respond to our requests for comment.