Destroyed candle factory will lay off half its workers

The Mayfield candle factory that was destroyed last month by a tornado said they won’t reopen the original facility, and will lay off half of its employees.

Mayfield Consumer Products said in a Jan. 10 federal filing that it plans to shift some workers to a nearby plant that will open soon less than ten miles away in Hickory.

The company said in the filing that about half of the 501 people employed would be offered positions at the new factory, and others would be permanently laid off.

However, a spokesman for Mayfield Consumer Products told the Courier Journal in a statement Friday that the company will offer jobs to all who received termination notices.