Rick Moriarty
More than 80 Harden Furniture workers are back on the job after a brief layoff, and 90 more might be returning to the company's factory soon.
In a notice to the state Department of Labor, the company said 82 workers resumed production at Harden's factory in the Oneida County hamlet of McConnellsville on Monday. It said 90 others are on "recall" should the company's production schedule warrant call backs.
The notice said the company anticipates that operations will continue on a "minimal production" level through April 12.
However, CEO Gregory Harden told syracuse.com Wednesday that he is hopeful that production continues beyond April 12 and that the remaining workers on layoff will be called back as production ramps up to full speed.
"Our expectation is we are going to continue operating," said Harden, the great-great-grandson of the company's founder, Charles S. Harden Sr. "We've added a couple more people this week, as a matter of fact."
The April 12 date was given in the notice out of an "abundance of caution" so the company is complying with the federal and state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act in the event the company's new owner does not authorize production beyond that date, he said.
The company suspended production Jan. 31 and laid off its workforce of 172 people after the company's assets were sold in a foreclosure auction to specialty lender Big Shoulders Capital, of Northbrook, Ill.
Harden said Big Shoulders Capital has not told him what its long-term plan is for the furniture maker. He said the lender has authorized him to look for investors to possibly buy the company's assets back.